Dante
Cece fell asleep in my arms and I fought sleep for over an hour, just so I could feel her against me and hear the softness of her breath as she breathed in and out rhythmically. I didn’t know still how we had gotten here, but it was exactly what I had wanted to happen. This woman was all I had thought about for a while and all of the need and want was not lost on the buildup. I wanted her just as badly as before.
I fell asleep with her tightly wound around me and I never wanted to let go. It was all just too surreal. I didn’t want to sleep because I was afraid I would wake up and she would be gone. When I couldn’t fight it anymore, those fears came true when I woke up alone. I wanted her to be next to me, so badly, but that was not at all what happened. What happened was I woke up in an empty bedroom, slightly cold because Cece wasn’t beside me.
There was no note and no sign of Cecelia anywhere. I wanted to get up and go find her, but I decided that was one of the last things that I should do. I had a feeling she was going to take time to process it, no matter how badly I had to be inside of her once more. She had her own worries to have and none of them included answering them to me. She was my boss after all, even if I had her screaming my name but a few hours ago.
I got dressed and took a long shower. I almost didn’t want to wash off the remnants of our shared passion, but it was better than doing nothing. I could go into work in the state I was in, so I felt a little better and put together when I emerged a few minutes later. I passed Barb in the hallway, totally forgetting about her for a time. Now she was looking at me in a certain way and I just waved her off. There was no way that I was going through the same thing again.
“Long night, huh?”
I didn’t answer her. I didn’t really want anything to do with her and I was still curious why Cece didn’t fire her straight away. She had known that Cliff was with Cece, never mind the fact that we were kind of seeing each other as well, at least in the bedroom.
“Are we not going to talk anymore Dante? I miss our late-night discussions.”
We never said more than ten words to each other at the same time. There were no discussions, just lust and need that hadn’t even really been directed at her. It was always a way for me to work through things that bothered me. I didn’t know what I was doing with her in the first place.
“I don’t Barb. Let’s just keep our distance. I am not as forgiving as Cece is. If I was the boss, I would have fired you when I found out.”
She blanched a little and I could tell that she wasn’t expecting that sort of response from me. I was done playing nice, especially when the woman hurt Cecelia. I was less likely to be okay with that now. I don’t know how it had gotten here, but I felt protective of Cece, even from Barb. She wasn’t malicious, just a little too loose with everyone. I certainly wasn’t going back down that route with her.
“When did you become so wrapped up around her finger?”
I shrugged. I know that it was supposed to bother me, but it didn’t. I wasn’t whipped or a little puppy that was in love, I was a man that found the woman I wanted to be with and I wasn’t going to ever do anything to mess that up. I just can’t.
“I am not Barb, but you are bad news and I actually care about the people here. You go on your way, she saved your job and I will go on my way.”
She moved closer and I took a step back with the towel wrapped around my waist. I felt like she was a plague that I had to stay away from, for my own good. “Why are you being like this Dante? I miss you.”
It hadn’t been a day and I didn’t miss her. I moved past her, bypassing her touch and went into my room. I hoped not to have too many more run-ins with her. She was always around and at one time I thought it would be good. How convenient I thought, but now I questioned that line of thinking all together. I didn’t want her to be close and maybe I had to work on getting new people in, so some of the ones here now could go.
I got dressed and moved up to the ranch house. Everyone was already in there having breakfast and my eyes scanned the gathering looking for Cece. I wanted to talk to her, kiss her, something after what happened between us the night before, but she was nowhere to be found. I caught a few looks from other people, but I just ignored it all. I didn’t really care if they heard us. I was laying claim to her and it was good that everyone saw it for what it was. Cece was mine now.
“Where is the boss?”
“She rode out earlier to meet up with someone. I am not sure who. She left our duties on the list at the counter. Have you tried the gravy?”
I looked at Jeff’s plate and I could see that it was scraped clean. We had a new cook on the ranch and it appeared that the large man liked her. If he was any indication, the gravy would be good. But I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want to eat anything. I wanted to talk to Cece.
Going out to the porch, I called her and waited for the obligatory three rings before I got her voice mail. She always had her phone on her, so it most likely meant that she was just ignoring me. I was confused by her behavior and kicked myself for even going to sleep. I should have waited up a little while longer, catching her before she ran out.
I was in new territory. Not only had I never wanted someone to be there the next day, I never had a woman completely go away like Cece did. The one woman that I wanted to stay, hadn’t. She couldn’t for long obviously, we worked together for goodness sake’s, but I still had an uneasy stomach about it all.
Going to the list of duties that she had written down, I saw that I was out as far away from the ranch as possible, fixing fences all day. It needed to be done, there was no doubt about that, but it wasn’t really my job. There were several hands that could do it, but I wasn’t going to argue. There was no one to argue to anyways if I wanted to. She had taken herself out of the equation and I am not sure that I was okay with that. I had to be for the time being, but we were going to have a face to face soon enough.
***
That face to face didn’t happen all day Tuesday. Whoever she went to meet, she stayed gone a long time and it wasn’t what I expected. I expected her to come back to the ranch by night fall, but she still wasn’t back when I got back from mending fences and training horses all day. I was beat and I wanted to see her, but she still wasn’t around. I was starting to get ticked off. Where the hell was she?
Barb made another appearance and tried to stop me in the hallway. She acted like she knew something that I didn’t. It was becoming clear that she was the one ate up with guilt or she just wanted to start more trouble. I really wasn’t so sure about her anymore.
“Your little girlfriend isn’t coming back to night. She has other plans that don’t involve you Dante. You have reached too high this time.”
“Yes Barb, maybe so, but I reached too low when I got with you.”
She looked hurt and I wished I hadn’t said it because the last thing I needed was a scorned woman that I would have to see all of the time. I didn’t want to offend her, but I already had. There wasn’t much I could do about it but go on.
“Well you are only good for a lay Dante. You have a great cock and know how to use it, but that is about all you are worth. Cece knows that as well as every other woman that crosses your path. That isn’t ever going to change.”
I walked away, but her words had triggered something inside of me and I had to wonder if she was right. It wasn’t like I had done much more than pleasure a woman. I had never loved a woman and the first time that I did, she ran off after the most amazing night of lovemaking. That couldn’t be a good sign and I didn’t feel like it was. Barb’s words played on my mind as I went to sleep. Where was Cece?
***
After a little while of tossing and turning, I got up. I had so much to do and all I was thinking about was Cece. I couldn’t sleep and when I went outside to get some fresh air, I could see her car was out front. That meant she was back and that she hadn’t stayed out all night. There was a bit of relief in that fact, but it did nothing for what else I wondered. Where had she been?
I should have gone back inside and back to bed. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow with several horses having to be transported for competition. That meant that I had to get up early and get through my day, but something was stopping me from going that route. I wanted more than anything else to know that she was home. I had to put my eyes on her and get some answers before I was going to have enough peace of mind to sleep. She owed me that and I wasn’t going to leave until I got it.
So instead of going back to my room, I went to the ranch house to see if I could talk to Cece. I didn’t even know what time it was, but I didn’t care. I had to get answers and I wasn’t used to all of this on my mind. I was used to being pushed to the side and I wasn’t going to stand for it. Barb’s words had gotten to me and I was questioning everything.
The ranch house was quiet as I made my way in. The door was unlocked, like it always was and there wasn’t a light on inside. I didn’t need any light. I knew where everything was and I made my way to the bottom of the stairs and looked up them. There was only one light on upstairs and it was coming from underneath Cece’s door. It felt perfect to me and I made my way up the many stairs so that I could figure this all out. My body raged with the idea that I may get more than I wanted to. I needed Cece and if she was willing, I wanted to be deep inside of her soon.
I knocked lightly and there was some movement as she did something on the other side. If I would have checked, I am sure I would have found that the door was unlocked, but I wanted to give her time to prepare for me.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Dante.”
The sounds stopped and I envisioned her motionless on the other side of the door. “Are you going to let me in?”
Another hesitation before she said to come in. I tried the knob and I was right. It opened right up and that was that. Now I was going to get the answers that I had to hear. I had to know where she had been and I had to believe that she was still mine.