Everything that Glitters Ch. 04

But in his heart he knew 'why not.'

Zane showered and came out wearing pajamas -- both a top and shorts. He climbed into bed and Cassie went to shower. She came out in a nightdress that covered everything but three-quarters of her long, lean, but shapely legs. He looked at her closely: no makeup, hair still damp, wearing a nightgown and she was still beautiful!

She told him good night without looking at him and climbed into her bed. He stared at the ceiling for a while thinking about his roommate, and then closed his eyes, put his thoughts about Cassie in a corner, and slept.

Two hours later a mountain thunderstorm erupted, lighting the room even with the drapes closed. The booming thunder escalated until it almost continuous, and the wind was howling. Zane thought how glad he was that the horses were stabled, and hoped their trucks and trailers wouldn't be harmed.

During a brief respite, he thought he heard a whimper. Immediately, a bolt of lightning struck nearby, and the crack of thunder elicited a cry of terror from the next bed.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She pulled her head out from under the covers, and exclaimed, "I HATE storms and I REALLY HATE LIGHTNING! Dad almost got us killed one night when we were in Wyoming. Can I lie beside you? I'll explain, but I feel better when someone is near me."

"Okay..."

She slithered into his bed, slid close to him, shivered, and pressed her firm, lithe body against his. "We were in a car with some big guy who said he wanted me to appear in statewide ads to sell saddles and tack. He and my fa... he and Albert had done a line of coke earlier, but we still got in his Mercedes to go to his store.

I had been drinking enough to get in a car with someone high on coke, but I was sober enough to be scared when this huge thunderstorm blew up. I begged them to turn around, but they just laughed.

If was raining so hard you could barely see the headlights; the wind was blowing things across the road, and the lightning and thunder was incessant, like right now! I was huddled in the back seat shouting at them to go somewhere safe when lightning hit a big tree beside the road, right in front of us! I saw a blinding flash, and then chunks of burning wood were flying toward us through the rain.

The guy had his brakes locked up, but the tree was falling toward us. I was screaming as loud as I could, knowing the tree was going to land on us and we were going to die. When the tree hit, only the top few branches hit the front of his car. I was still terrified, but they started laughing!

"The road was impassible, so I talked them into going back to the hotel where we were staying. The lighting and thunder died down, but as soon as I got inside the room, I locked and chained the door. Albert and his friend stood outside and bitched until I called security and they made them leave. Needless to say, I didn't get the job, but I did learn to be afraid of storms like this!"

The lightning kept the room lit well enough that she got a glimpse of Zane smiling at her with an arched eyebrow. "Really? Or did you just want to get in my bed?"

She curled up against him and he felt her trembling. "I really am scared! Can you hold me and do something to distract me? Talk to me or something, please!"

Zane questioned his decision even as he wrapped his arms around her and she pressed her trembling body tightly against his. 'This is just me helping someone in need', he told himself in justification. Then she turned, put her head on his shoulder, and did that thing only she could do, where her bones all dissolved and she was melted to him.

The top of her head was against his jaw, her disheveled hair splayed across his cheek and down his neck, and he smelled the fruity shampoo she had used since she was a girl. Her breath warmed his chest just above her right arm, which lay across his chest clutching at his pajama top on the other side, holding him in place. Her boobs pressed into his ribs and he could feel her hard nipples through her dress and his nylon tee shirt. Her bare legs were touching his, with her top leg lying across his right leg just below his shorts.

All that femininity assaulting his senses was bad enough, but the clincher was the hot little pussy pressed against his hip. He was afraid to move, even to breathe, knowing if he smelled any more of her pheromones he might abandon the pretense of helping her overcome her fear of thunderstorms, roll her over, strip her panties off, spread her legs, and insert the raging hardon that had grown right out the top of his shorts.

He knew he couldn't, but he wanted to possess her so badly he ached! He gritted his teeth as his mind considered how she would feel naked, her legs wrapped around him, her hot mouth open, tongue probing his, her nails raking his bare back, her hips returning every thrust, her little whimpers and cries...

She chose that moment to wiggle even closer, whimper, and rearrange her top leg so it lay across his painfully hard cock. She stiffened briefly; he lay still. She moved her leg slightly, to confirm what she felt.

Raising her head just enough that she could see his face, she quietly whispered, "Well, THAT certainly is distracting; thank you." She rubbed her thigh across his rampant cock, and he moaned.

Her lips found his neck and kissed it gently but wetly; his left hand reached across and grasped her tight, round, little ass, squeezing her left cheek and pulling her hot little pussy higher on his hip. He didn't feel any panties.

"Zane...I...I'm not..."

He curled his right arm around her chest, then shrugged his shoulder and pulled her ass at the same time. Suddenly she was lying on top of him, with her mouth still tucked under his chin and her pulsating pussy centered over his throbbing cock. He spread her legs with his knees, grabbed her ass with both hands, and rubbed her pussy up and down his shorts-enclosed cock. She whimpered and bit his neck.

His big hand grabbed a handful of that honey-blonde hair, lifted her head off his neck, pulled it up until they were looking into each other's eyes, and then crushed her mouth against his.

She was lost, and she knew it! This was probably just him using her for sex, but she didn't care. She was about to break her promise to abstain, but she didn't care: this was Zane!

"Take your dress off!" he ordered. She sat up; her flooded pussy had already soaked the satin shorts covering his cock. She pulled her top over her head and then looked down at him. He grabbed her jutting titties with his big, rough hands, squeezed her breasts, and then he rolled her hard nipples between his forefingers and thumbs, eliciting a sharp cry and whimper.

"Nice tits! I think they've grown. Now take off my shorts!"

She hesitated, thrown off by the demanding tone of his voice and abrupt words. He pinched her nipples and repeated, "Take off my shorts!"

She yelped, pivoted on her right knee and knelt beside him so she could remove his shorts. She felt like she was being used, but somehow, she didn't care: this was Zane! This was the only love she had ever known, the only man with whom she had ever made love! The man she had wronged, the man she had abandoned! If he wanted to use her like a whore, she would give him that; it would be small recompense for what she had done!

She grabbed the waistband of his shorts; he raised his hips to help her pull them down, and then kicked them off when they reached his feet. He sat up in the bed, grabbed a handful of that glistening hair and pulled her head down onto his cock. "Suck it! Let's see what you learned!"

Her heart racing as she faced her inner conflict. His words were crude, but this was what she had been dreaming of: Zane wanting her as much as she wants him! She had spent any number of nights with her hand in her panties while he slept nearby, and, while he had been traveling and she was at home, she had worn out any number of batteries and more than a few toys, crying his name while she came!

Yet, to give in to his demands now would mean rejecting her vow to remain celibate until she was married in the eyes of God and man.

She pushed back against his hand and cried, "Zane, I took a pledge to never have sex again until I'm married! I love you and I want you, but please don't make me do this! I never want to break a vow again!"

He laughed!

He let go of her hair, lay back on the bed, and snorted! "Seriously? You put on about being afraid of storms, come over here without panties, plaster yourself against me, wiggle, whimper and push that wet pussy against my hip, and then when it comes time to put out, you talk about a vow of abstinence? Ha! I'll tell you what..."

BRING -- BRING -- BRING

The phone beside the bed is ringing. Cassie is still kneeling, naked as a jaybird, staring at him with a look of horror on her face, so Zane picks up. "Hello!"

"Daddy, is mommy all right? She's afraid of thunderstorms because she almost got killed in one and the lightning and thunder are so bad! I always sleep with her when it's lightning; do I need to come to your room and get in bed with her?"

Cassie got off the bed, stood up, turned her back to him, and put her nightdress on while Zane was assuring their daughter that Mom was okay and not to worry.

Cassie was devastated by the coldness of his words and his certainty that she was only trying to seduce him. It was clear he didn't believe she wasn't the slut she had been before she was saved. He believed she was still a slut, playing at being a moral woman!

For the first time she realized nothing she could do would change his opinion of her, which meant any chance of them getting back together was nothing more a childish dream!

That reality was a knife stuck in her heart; she turned back to her bed, climbed under the covers and pulled them to her chin. She turned her back to Zane, and lay there for a moment. How could he still have such a low opinion of her? She had been nothing less than a responsible mother and co-parent since she came back into their lives! She was nothing like the irresponsible girl that abandoned her husband and child more than four years ago! Couldn't he see that?

Anger suddenly overrode her sorrow! He had been playing her! He was going to fuck her, like he had done the others she knew about! Fuck her, use her, and then move on, as he had the others!

He had told her how her father planned her downfall, tricked her, drugged her, and conspired with other sophisticated exploiters to use her! Then he argued that, because she was young and naïve, she wasn't really responsible for what happened. Yet, his actions and words screamed that he thought she was and is a slut!

She had refused to blame it all on her conniving father or her youth and naiveté because she knew she should have resisted the temptations regardless! Her mother brought her up better than that!

But why had Zane told her she needed to forgive herself and move forward as the person she was now if he was going to treat her like a slut? All she wanted was a little shelter from the storm, someone to hold her and keep the angry lightning away! Why had he reacted like that?

Well, if that's the way he's going to be, to hell with him!

She was turning over in bed so she could really let him have it when she felt the covers being pulled back and Zane sliding in beside her. She was already propped up on her left elbow when his face appeared only inches away from hers. She had on her mad face; he had on his contrite face.

She opened her mouth to fuss at him, but he said, "I'm sorry."

She continued glaring at him, remaining quiet to see what he would add, if anything. If he didn't, she really was going to let him have it!

"You're right to be angry. That was me completely misreading your intentions! I thought you... I thought you wanted me to make love... no, not make love... to fuck you!

"I have it in my head that if I'd been stronger... more controlling when we were married, maybe you wouldn't have gone off with the asshole and done all that shit! You responded... feverishly, I guess, when I tried to take control of you tonight, so I thought that was what you wanted.

"Based on some of the things I was told, I thought you liked dirty talk and being forced to do things. I guess I was wrong, and I'm sorry I said and did what I did."

The anger that had flared so hot cooled just as rapidly. "I wasn't lying, Zane; I am afraid of lightning now! Really, I've always been, but since that tree was destroyed right in front of me, I've been terrified by lightning storms!

"As to misreading the rest... well, in a way you did, and in a way you didn't. I did... do... want you to make love to me. I took off my panties because I never wore them in bed when we were married and I was reminiscing before the storm started, and... I don't know! When I got in bed with you and felt your body, I... really wanted you!"

"So what do we do now, Cassie? You seemed pretty eager when you took the nightdress off."

"Zane, from the moment you wrapped your arms around me and held me against you over ten years ago, until tonight, I've never NOT wanted you! You know that! Think how hard it was to hold out until we graduated. We came so close so many times, and every time you made me cum I wanted to lay back and spread my legs for you!

"That's how I responded to your big, hard body tonight! Well, that and your big, hard thingy! I was so distracted I didn't even hear the thunder."

"So, Cassie, again: what now? I'll gladly hold you until the storm passes, but if you give me all the signals again I'm not sure I won't just take you!

"You talk about how being around me has ended with your hand in your panties; how do you think I feel when you wear those short shorts and skimpy tops, those skin tight jeans and blouses, or a short dress with boots like you did in New Orleans? And how about that bikini you wore today?

"How about all that posing you do! Don't tell me you aren't leaning over to show off that prime ass, or to give me a good look at your pretty titties -- those aren't accidental! The way you brush up against me with your butt or press your boobs into my arm -- that isn't innocent!

"You torture me with that body, those pouty lips, and those bedroom eyes, and expect me to keep my hands off you when you're snuggled up to me in my bed?"

She smiled. "So you have been noticing me? You certainly haven't made it obvious... well, except a few times when a certain part of your body..."

She giggled, and Zane thought she sounded like the sixteen year-old he had fallen in love with ten years ago. "Okay, I'll admit it! I have been trying to get your attention," she bubbled; then she grew serious. "I know you will never forget what I did, but I can't help..."

"Shhhh. That's enough talky-talky for tonight. Lay your head on my shoulder, I'll protect you from the mountain storm, and we can get some sleep. You-know-who will be up early."

***

They were dressed and ready when Casey and her little friends beat on the door yelling "Room service!" Zane left the chain on, opened the door slightly, and said, "We didn't order room service! Go away!"

He started closing the door; Casey and her friends shrieked, "It's not room service -- it's US!"

He let them in, knelt down, and got big hugs; then they ran to Cassie and gave her hugs. Their increasingly precocious daughter put her hand on her hips and commanded, "Come on, y'all! We're starving, and everyone is already downstairs ready to eat and go to the train!"

Zane chuckled, "It's 7 am, Sweetie; the train leaves at 9:30, we already have the tickets, and the depot is nearby. I think we have sufficient time to get there."

They had just joined everyone at the big table when Casey remembered last night's storm and asked, "Mommy, were you all right during the lightning? I called Daddy and said I would come sleep with you, but he said you were okay!"

"Yes, Darling, your Daddy took good care of me. I hardly even noticed the storm outside he distracted me so well!"

Carole and Brad both cocked an eyebrow and looked at Zane. He returned their looks, said, "Get your minds out of the..." and then turned to Casey, "Yes, Honey, we survived the storm just fine; your mommy was very brave!"

Zane looked up to see the other adult eyes were on a blushing Cassie, who was apparently reliving the highlights. She cut her eyes to him, and the red deepened and spread. The girls were busily talking about the train, so Carole whispered, "I'm going to need to speak to you after breakfast, Cassie!"

Cassie turned a shade of purple and lowered her eyes to the table. The adults chuckled, but the kids kept talking.

Zane shook his head, rolled his eyes, and quietly said, "You are going to be so disappointed, Carole."

***

The steam train was extremely cool, both figuratively and literally, even though it was mid-August; the jackets the moms insisted they bring came in handy. The views were even more breathtaking than from "The Million Dollar Highway" to Silverton, and they took hundreds of pictures on phones and two cameras with zoom lenses.

Silverton was pretty much a tourist trap, but the girls were loving it so they donned a 'tourista' attitude and went along with whatever was happening.

Zane and Brad got drafted to the posse that was hunting the outlaws, and had to don a duster and carry a stage gun. They served as armed backdrop for the big gunfight that broke out in the middle of the street. Fortunately, the good guys won, but not before some of the bad guys succumbed to the lightning-fast draw of the hero, and others were chased down and handcuffed after they ran down the sidewalk and through the "saloon".

After drinking a sarsaparilla at the saloon, they gathered at the Medicine Show. Carole was called to the stage for one of the magic tricks, and Cassie got called on by the hypnotist that followed the magician. To that point, it had all been silly fun and they had played along, but Cassie flat-out refused to be hypnotized. Finally, after a lot of unsuccessful cajoling, the hypnotist moved along, and thoroughly embarrassed a 40-something man who volunteered.

After the show they tried to tease Cassie, but she was having none of it. "My therapist has used hypnosis with me, and I know how dangerous it is! I'm not letting some jackass like that into my head!"

They all made silly faces at her, and Zane teasingly said, "Well, alrighty then! Of course, I was hoping to come up and ask you some questions, like his wife did, and maybe get some straight answers, but I can see you're a little touchy about that."

Still serious as a heart attack, she replied, "If you want to come with me to the therapist, I'll gladly let you pry around in my head, but not someone like that! He just wanted to embarrass me!"

Carole teasingly told her to calm down because it was all over now, but Zane filed her promise away; it might come in handy someday.

They left Silverton at 2:00, and the adults enjoyed the scenery again while the kids napped for an hour. It was much warmer at 5:30 when they got down to Durango, which is built along the valley of the San Juan River, so they left their jackets in the SUV and went to Ken and Sue's for supper. The main menu had something for everyone, and the children's menu was perfect for the hungry girls.

After the meal, they went downtown, walked around, and shopped until the stores began closing, and then went back to the hotel and swam. It had been a relaxing day.

Zane and Brad were sitting on lounge chairs drinking their second beer while the moms played in the pool with their daughters. "All in all, we're pretty damn lucky!" opined Brad. "I know you saw all the looks our wives... Carole and Cassie got today, and all the jealous looks we got. Those are some fine looking women!"