Chapter 16 Krista
KRISTA
Getting up to pee sometime in the early morning, I tossed on Rob’s shirt and headed to the bathroom. He was dead to the world, laying on his stomach and snoring softly. I wished I could sleep like that right now, but my brain wouldn’t shut off.
This thing with Rob was new and interesting, but did it really stand a chance of becoming anything more? Somehow, I doubted it. He wasn’t from Montana, and he didn’t seem to like it all that much. And it wasn’t like he took me out on a date or anything.
The attraction was there, but it was all sex. Was that really what I wanted? Someone to drop in and fuck me when he had the chance? Because what else was there for us? He worked for a security company, and there wasn’t anything like that where I lived.
And it wasn’t like moving to Pennsylvania was an option. What would I do there? I only knew ranching, and from what I understood, he lived on some kind of compound.
I washed my hands and stared in the mirror at my reflection. I was so pathetic. Why was I even thinking about any of this? Because the sex was good? That wasn’t a real reason.
A scream shattered the silence and I raced out of the room, running down the short hall to the bedroom where Claire was staying. I flung open the door and—
“Oh. My. God,” I murmured.
Claire was strapped to the bed. Like, full-on tied up, and Derek…
Storm whimpered behind me, laying his head down on the ground and covering his eyes with his paw.
I turned and slammed the door behind me, blushing from my head to my toes at what I had just seen. Rushing down the hall, I went to the kitchen and made some coffee. That was normal. I needed normal right now.
That…that was…
Hell, I didn’t know what that was. I mean, she’d told me she liked to be rescued, that Derek was Superman, but I never thought…
Storm whimpered as he followed me. He seemed just as freaked out as I was. And if it weren’t for the fact that he was a wild wolf, I might try to console him, but I didn’t exactly trust that he wouldn’t bite my hand off.
“Sorry about that.”
I squeaked as Derek’s voice boomed behind me. He stood there, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin on his face.
“That? Oh, that was nothing. I mean…it was…it’s none of my business.”
He cocked a smile at me. “Claire likes some adventure. She gets it from her books.”
“You know, it’s really none of my business,” I said, walking over to the cabinet to get down a mug.
“I’m gonna do the rounds…check outside.”
“Uh-huh,” I nodded, not looking at him.
“Storm!” he called, and the wolf immediately jumped up and followed him outside. Weird.
God, I would never get those blue tights out of my mind. Or the red underwear. Was that what they were? Maybe they weren’t called underwear. And the idea that I was so concerned with whatever that costume was called just blew my mind.
As soon as I heard the door close, I sank against the counter, grateful to be alone once again. It would take days to unpack what I just saw.
“So…oops?” Claire said from behind me.
“When I turn around, you’d better be fully clothed and have no ties around your wrists,” I mumbled.
“Fully clothed and ready for inspection.”
I winced, turning to face her. “That’s not any better, you know.”
“Yeah, I heard it come out of my mouth,” she laughed. Walking around the counter, she grabbed a mug and waited with me for the coffee to be ready. “So, that was a good introduction to my world.”
She said it so casually, but I didn’t miss the way she blushed.
“You were serious about the whole Superman thing.”
“Told you,” she shrugged. “Not that it was all our fault. I mean, you put on quite the show yesterday.”
“What?”
Rolling her eyes, she plopped on the stool. “Oh, come on. We all heard you in the shower with Rob. I’m pretty sure even Sinner called home to have sex with his wife.”
“Ew!”
“Hey, you started it. We just finished it.” She blushed again, but I had the feeling she wasn’t really embarrassed about what she did. She just didn’t know how to discuss it with me.
“To each his own.”
When the coffee was done brewing, she grabbed some and headed for the cabinet, getting the powdered creamer. “So, what’s going on with you and Rob?”
That was a loaded question. “Nothing. It’s just sex.”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “Just sex. That was amazing sex. You don’t make sounds like that when it’s just okay.”
“What do you want me to say? It is what it is.”
“Um, first of all, that’s crap. Second of all, a huge pile of crap. What’s really going on?”
Groaning, I thunked my head on the counter. “I’m stupid. Beyond stupid. I slept with him again!”
“Okay, I’m not seeing the problem. So you slept with him. What’s wrong with that?”
“You mean besides the fact that when I woke up this morning, I was trying to figure out how it would work between the two of us?”
She winced, catching on to my meaning. “I take it you two haven’t exactly discussed what this is.”
“Not at all. It’s sex. He knows that. I know that, but my brain—”
“Is a fickle bitch,” she nodded. “You’re overthinking it like every other woman on the planet. Been there, done that.”
“What am I supposed to do? I mean, logically, there’s no way this will work, but my vagina doesn’t understand that. She likes his dick, and she wants to figure out how to get more and keep it.”
“Then you should definitely listen to her.”
“Except there’s no way to make that happen. He lives in Pennsylvania, and my vagina is planted in Montana. She can’t get what she needs!”
“You could always do meet-ups.”
“And that would only lead to longing and desperate phone calls. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen to others. I don’t want to be that woman.”
She thought about it for a minute, but I already knew nothing she said would make any difference. “Maybe it’s just meant to be for a little while. Maybe he’s your transition man, and you’ll find someone else you can actually settle down with.”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking it over. “I mean, the sex will never be as good. I can already tell that. He’s way too skilled to just be the average man.
So, I’ll find someone else, and it won’t be the same, but it’ll be enough.
And I’m only in my twenties, so I’ll spend the better part of my youth with someone who’s just okay.
Technically, I only have a few years until I hit thirty, so by then, I’ll be used to average sex.
My brain will adjust to the fact that this was only meant to be for a short time. ”
“And you’re okay with that? With having average sex forever?”
“I mean…lots of people do it, right?” I winced.
“You find someone you think can fill that gap in you, and you run with it. And by the time you realize it’ll never truly be enough, you’re committed.
And divorce is just frowned upon in my family, so I’ll go on with this man, who is a great companion.
We’ll live in general happiness until we both grow old and die. ”
“But at least you’ll have the memories of that one really great time in your life when you had good dick,” she said sarcastically. “Seriously, do you believe anything you’re saying?”
I sighed, slumping on the counter. “Not really, but what choice do I have? It’s not like it’ll ever be anything more than it is now.”
“Then make it more!” she practically shouted at me.
“I can’t just make it more. Things don’t work like that.”
“Not if you wallow in self-pity! Seriously, if you want something to happen, you have to work for it.”
I glared at her. “How? Tell me how this would ever work, and when you figure that out, I’ll go for it. I’ll be all in.”
Her mouth opened, but then closed as she frowned.
“See? There is no way. It wasn’t meant to be, and I know that. I just have to chalk it up to one really great experience, and leave it in the past.”
“But—”
I stood and walked away, saying over my shoulder, “There is no but. There’s only reality, and mine says this wasn’t meant to be.”
I decided that if I was only going to have amazing sex for this short time in my life, I might as well soak it all up now.
After all, when this adventure ended, I would go back to my life, and he would go back to his.
Things would return to their normal, mundane self, and I would go back to occasionally finding a man worth sleeping with.
And it wouldn’t be good.
So, I slipped into the bedroom and started stripping. The moment he stepped out of the bathroom and saw me shucking my panties, he stopped in his tracks and his eyes tracked every inch of my body. I swore I could feel the way his eyes burned into me, and that wasn’t even a real thing.
But it worked.
He was hauling me against his body two seconds later, and his tongue was permanently planted down my throat as his hands roamed over every inch of my flesh.
It was perfect.
Almost.
“Incoming!”
Rob tore his lips from mine and tossed me down on the ground.
“What—”
An explosion rocked the house. The ceiling caved in, landing all around us and on top of Rob’s exposed body. I barely registered that we were in actual danger.
Gas explosion.
Water main leak.
Fireworks gone wild.
The possibilities were endless. But the fire scorching the house was very real, and most definitely not caused by a water main leak.
“Move!” Rob shouted, hoisting me to my feet.
I landed harshly on the balls of my feet, wincing when something bit into my skin. But I barely had a chance to think it over because Rob was already dragging me through the room toward the door.
“Wait!” I shouted as my boobs swayed from side to side.
He spun, his eyes wide as he looked me over. “What? What is it? Are you hurt?”
“I’m naked!” I shouted.
“Krista, the house is on fire!”
My heart melted a little. “You called me Krista.”
“That’s your name,” he said irritatedly.
“Yes, but it’s the first time you’ve used it.”
His jaw clenched in irritation. “In case you haven’t noticed, the house is on fire! Now is not the time to take a stroll through the park.”
“Okay, but it is a good time to put on clothes! I am not walking out there completely naked!”
Frustrated, he stormed over to his bag and unzipped it, pulling out a t-shirt and tossing it at me. He pulled on pants, which, while I appreciated, also made anger flare inside me.
“Why do you get pants?”
“Look, your important parts are covered and so are mine. What’s the problem?”
“Nothing,” I snapped. “Just seems a bit sexist that you get the pants.”
His eyes widened the longer he stared at me. “We’re in a burning building, and you want to argue about who gets the pants?”
“Well, seriously, would you toss a shirt at just anyone and tell them to wear it with your ass hanging out?”
“This is not gonna turn out the way you want,” he growled.
“Wanna bet?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
Two minutes later, we ran out of the house into the fresh air.
Sinner was laying on the ground beside a tumbleweed, a rifle in his hand as he randomly shot at whatever he saw in the distance.
Derek was shoving Claire in the vehicle, arguing with her about something.
Perhaps it was the fact that she was holding a gigantic weapon in her hands.
“Let’s move!” Derek shouted, doing a double-take when he saw Rob and me standing just outside the house. “What the—”
Sinner jumped to his feet, ready to take off, but when he saw me in only jeans that were way too big for my body, and Rob in only a t-shirt that barely covered his junk with guns strapped to his bare thighs, he scratched the back of his head.
“I think you guys got that wrong.”
“Talk to her,” Rob muttered, storming past Sinner. “Apparently, women’s rights go as far as who wears the jeans in the family.”
Sinner tore his shirt over his head and tossed it at me. “I’m gonna need you to put that on. My wife would castrate me if she found out I was staring at another woman’s boobs. Been there, didn’t care for it much.”
Fumbling with the shirt, I tugged it over my head. “You were castrated?”
“In a sense. Trust me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“I wasn’t aware castration could be a good thing.”
He grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the car. “Not sure. I think an argument could have been made for the Nazis.”
I climbed into the SUV behind Rob, but as soon as Claire started to get in, Derek pulled her back out.
“There is no way you’re sitting back here with FreeBall. Get up front.”
Claire’s face lit up with excitement. “Does that mean I get the AK?”
“Fuck,” Derek cursed under his breath. “Yeah.”
Storm jumped in the back seat with us, then climbed into the trunk, his tail wagging the whole time as he drooled all over the place.
We took off seconds later, and Sinner eyed Derek in the mirror. “You’re willing to let her play with guns just so she doesn’t sit with a man who’s half naked?”
Derek looked him dead in the eye. “Any fucking day of the week.”