Colin

 

We drove ten minutes down the road before I saw a rental car place. It was the same one we had rented from at the hotel and I practically jumped out of my seat. I pointed to the sign as Abby continued to stare out the window, her blank eyes scanning the horizon as she looked for a way out of this situation.

“I’ll need to pay for the damages on the previous car anyway. Just drop us off here and I’ll get us the rest of the way.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Doug asked. “The weather’s pretty bad.”

“I’ve got this,” I said. “We just need to take it slow.”

Abby was silent and I tried to push the entire scenario out of my mind. I needed to fix one problem at a time, and the car would be easier to fix. Doug pulled over on the side of the road and let us out, and I was thankful to be rid of that cramped truck. We waved our goodbyes and Abby scrambled up to give him a hug.

I would have rolled my eyes had I not felt like such a dick already.

It was getting later and later. Already, it was close to dinnertime and we were only on the outskirts of Kansas City. The freezing rain gave way to buckets of snow, and it came down so hard we couldn’t even see the dark road outside. I guided Abby into the rental store and I talked with the front desk attendant, informing them of what happened and where the car currently was. I was ready and willing to pay whatever charges I needed to in order to cover the damages and get us back on the road.

Mostly, I was ready for this nightmare of a trip to be over.

I signed mounds of paperwork and swiped my card more times than I cared to admit. I specified that I needed a car with four-wheel drive, and that was when Abby made her first sound in the hour we had already spent in the car rental store. She snickered and shook her head before she folded her arms across her chest, then she turned her back to me as she looked out the window.

I took the keys from the woman and bid her a farewell. I was ready to get in the car, get warmed up, and get back on the road. The length of our trip would easily double because of how slow we would have to go, but it was better than spending another night in a hotel with a woman who couldn’t stand my presence.

“I really think we should just stay in Kansas City for the night,” Abby said lightly.

Her voice sounded so miniscule and defeated, and it felt like a punch to the gut with every word she spoke.

“I can get us there, Abby. Why don’t you trust me?” I asked.

“I can’t even trust you with a phone call, Colin. How in the world am I supposed to trust you with a car in the middle of a blizzard?”

My eyes studied the side of her face as a tear trickled down her cheek. She swiped at it quickly, but I had already seen it. She was hurting. At the core of her being, when I peeled away the comfort and the anxiousness and the attitude, Abby was hurt. I sat there as the car warmed up and watched her press herself as close to her door as she could get herself. The snow was coming down in sheets, blowing sideways as the car rocked with the wind. I noticed her legs were jiggling relentlessly, trying to expel the nervous energy she had coursing through her system.

I couldn’t keep her on the road like this, even if I was going to miss ample preparation time with Ted.

“Fine. We’ll stay the night. But we have to leave early in the morning. I have to get to Wichita. I know you don’t understand, but I—”

“Thank you,” Abby said.

She turned her heads towards me and I saw her red-rimmed eyes come into view. Her lips were downturned in exhaustion, but her eyes were full of gratefulness. She eased herself back into her seat and closed her eyes, allowing her body to finally relax like I’d wanted her to do back in Iowa.

At least she seemed to be warming up after the bullshit ride we had with Doug.

I found a decent hotel that didn’t have their parking lot filled to the brim. I pulled in and got us checked in just in time because they only had one last room left. A room with two double beds that sat right across the way from the pool and the hot tub area. It wasn’t ideal and we’d have to listen to people splashing around and screaming while we were there, but it was better than the alternative.

So, I checked us in, got each of us a room key and went out to retrieve Abby.

Part of me was still irritated that I just couldn’t drive us there. We were less than three hours away from our final destination and we were getting a damn hotel. I knew the weather was bad and I knew we’d had a rough day, but it was ridiculous that this venture was taking us so long. Who would’ve thought a conference in the middle of Kansas would get fucking snowed out like this?

I needed to call Ted and let him know that I was going to be yet another day late.

“Please tell me you’re here,” Ted said.

“Nope. Stuck in Kansas City for the night,” I said.

“Colin. You’re three hours away. Get in your damn car and drive.”

“I can’t. The weather’s terrible and I’ve already crashed one rental car,” I said.

“Wait. You crashed? Are you okay?” Ted asked.

“I’m fine. But I don’t want to take the chance. The roads are slick with ice and it’s piling up on power lines. This storm is supposed to dump more snow overnight, and I’d rather be stuck in a hotel with generator-powered internet than on the side of the road in a car where I’ll freeze to death.”

“Do I need to be preparing to do this conference for you?” Ted asked.

“Hell no. This isn’t like Christmas. I’m going to be there. I’ll just have to prepare on the road.”

“Well, I got your first round of emails. Everything looks good for your first two appearances.”

“Wonderful. I’ll get started on the next two tonight and send them to you before I crash,” I said.

“I’ll keep an eye out for them. In the meantime, stay safe. And I told you so.”

“Fuck you,” I said.

“You should’ve flown in with me. Sorry you chose otherwise. I’m still not sure why you were hell-bent on making a stop in Minnesota before coming down here.”

“Like I said, I had some things to take care of,” I said.

“Let me know when you get on the road tomorrow. I’ll call your hotel and let them know to push you back another day.”

“Thanks again. Talk to you soon.”

I hung up the phone before I started to get Abby. She was waiting patiently in the warmth of the car with a satiated little grin on her face. She seemed much more relaxed now that we were parked in the parking lot of a hotel, and she clapped her hands when I held up the keys. I had no idea how she was going to pass the time, but I was going to do with it work. If I was going to be forced to prepare on the road, then she was on her own.

Or the two of you could be snow bunnies.

I shook the thought from my mind as quickly as it flared. Even though we threw professionalism out the window the night before, I still needed to keep some form of decorum. Yes, I had missed Abby, and yes, her body had felt wonderful against mine. But now this was getting serious. I was spending my first night of true work in another hotel because of her paranoia and because of this stupid weather, and I couldn’t have her body on my mind.

But the moment we set foot into the hotel room, work faded into the recesses of my mind.

“You hated Christmas, didn’t you?” Abby asked.

I sighed as I tossed my bag in the corner before I shrugged off my coat.

“Abby, I didn’t mean that the way it came out,” I said.

“Then enlighten me,” she said, as she sat on her bed. “Tell me what you meant.”

“I made a choice to spend Christmas with you. That’s all I meant,” I said.

“A choice you regretted,” she said.

“Hardly. Christmas was wonderful. I told you that over and over again that night.”

“While you were cock deep between my legs, sure. What I’ve come to find is that men will tell women anything just to stay there for a few more minutes,” she said.

“Is that what you think?” I asked. “You think I just told you those things so I could fuck you longer?”

“What am I supposed to think?” she asked, as she stood up. “I was under the impression that I was going to hear from you. That we were going to talk, or at least become friends, after what we went through. I didn’t just screw you that night, Colin. I—”

My eyes locked onto hers as I slowly took a step towards her.

“You what, Abby?” I asked.

I could see that flush rising to her cheeks as her chest rose and fell with her quick breaths. I slowly stalked her across the room, my eyes begging her to finish that sentence. I wanted to hear it from her. I wanted to hear how much she had wanted me. How it wasn’t just a fun little fuck over the holidays to make it more special.

I wanted to hear those words drip from her lips.

“You what, Abby?” I asked huskily.

“I sent an email to your secretary,” she said.

“It was forwarded to me,” I said.

“Then why didn’t you answer?”

“I—honestly don’t know,” I said.

“That’s all you’ve got?” she asked, snickering. “After Christmas and screwing by the fire and that little gift you had for me and even showing up on my parent’s doorstep. That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

I never thought I could feel like the strongest man and the smallest dick at the same time, but somehow Abby made me feel that way. As I hovered over her, her big, beautiful brown eyes searching mine, I felt powerful enough to wrap my arms around her and pull her towards me. I felt powerful enough to thrust my lips down upon hers and feel her melt into my arms.

But I also felt weak enough to melt into a puddle at her feet. A puddle of regret and bad decisions that brought us to this point.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I don’t want your apologies,” she said breathlessly.

“Then what do you want? I’ve gotten us a hotel room. Twice, on this trip. I’ve paid for the rental car. Twice, on this trip. I’ve tried to understand you and I’ve tried to get you to settle down. And I thought things were better between us when we fucked last night but—”

“You think your cock’s good enough to make all of that just fine and dandy?” she asked.

“What I’m trying to say is—”

“It would be really nice if you sorted out what you were trying to say before you actually said it,” she said.

“So I don’t speak to you and it pisses you off, but when I do speak to you and you don’t like what I have to say, it pisses you off. Is there anything that doesn’t piss you off?” I asked.

“Doug didn’t piss me off,” she said.

“Because Doug was willing to be kind and soft with you.”

“And what’s wrong with that!?”

“Because I know that’s not what you want.”

“How the hell could you possibly know what I want?” she asked.

“Because I’ve spent personal, quality time with you.”

“Yeah. That amounts to maybe two weeks of our lives,” she said.

“Has anyone else spent that kind of intimate time with you?” I asked.

Her eyes danced between mine as I took another step towards her.

“Did your ex ever spend that kind of time trying to figure you out?” I asked.

“You’re not trying to figure me out,” she said. “And don’t you ever think you can bring that man up. I should’ve never told you about any of that shit that was going on with me.”

“I’m glad you did. Because you needed to talk with someone about it. I just wish you would talk with me now.”

“About what?” she asked.

“About why you’re so scared of the weather.”

I watched her falter for a split second before she puffed her chest out and bucked up to me.

“I don’t owe you a damn thing,” Abby said. “Now if you’ll excuse me—”

She turned to pull the covers back from the bed and I grabbed her wrist. She gasped at my touch as I tugged her towards me, her hands planting into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. She tilted her gaze up towards mine, her pouty lips parted slightly in shock.

My eyes danced around her face before I slowly lowered my lips to hers.

At first, she pulled back. I could feel her take a step back from me. Her body stood tall on her feet, but her lips never left mine. I cupped her cold cheeks and ran my thumbs across her skin, feeling her heat radiating out towards me even as she tried to deny me. This woman was the most confusing human being I’d ever encountered in my life. She refused to communicate unless it was on her terms and she always tried to manipulate things to go her way. She wanted me to read her mind without figuring out her soul and bend to her every whim whenever an idea or a fear struck her body.

And the thought of this confusing, utterly infuriating woman took up every spare second of my time.

I ran my tongue across her lips and felt her part them for me. Her body stepped back into mine as she fisted my shirt. The anger that still lingered between us slowly began to dissipate, and in its place was stoked an electric fire that raged throughout our veins. I could feel her pressing her body into me as my hands sank to her hips. I could feel her pushing me backwards until my back hit the wall, our lips swelling underneath the pressure of each other’s. She ripped my shirt from my pants and tugged at it, trying to free my body as her fingertips begged to feel my skin.

She was shaking against me, and I could feel my knees growing weaker for her.

We ripped at one another’s clothes until they were in tatters on the floor of the hotel room. My cock stood at attention as she dropped to her knees. I could feel the head of my dick dripping for her as she wrapped her lips around it, her beautiful brown eyes fluttering up to mine as my hand wrapped within the long tresses of her hair. She looked radiant on her knees for me. Worshipping my cock as she bobbed her head. My legs were already trembling and my heart was thundering in my ears. I could feel the very blood in my body racing through my protruding veins.

But it was nothing compared to the feeling I got when our eyes connected. When her tits pressed into my legs because she wanted to take as much of me as she could. She worked for my pleasure alone as her knees dug into the floor, and the warmth of her mouth rendered me speechless.

She sucked my cock so well that I almost forgot about the butterflies flapping around in my stomach.