~Ryann~
I continue…..
I'm thinking hot is an understatement. For real. I have to hold on to the island to keep my knees from buckling and fought back a moan as he slowly licked my finger clean. He pulled it out of his mouth slowly. Somehow the words, "Don't stop" escaped my lips. He grinned at me.
"I'll make you a deal." He put his hands on my waist picking me up setting me on the edge of the island.
"What's that?" I ask.
"You finish your book for your paper and I'll do whatever you want tonight."
"Anything?" He put two hands on either side of my hips and leaned in.
"Anything you want, baby." He leaned in even closer pressing his lips against my neck, kissing a soft trail to my ear.
"Fine, it's a deal. But I have to get changed first." He pulls back helping me off the island.
"Ok, I'm going to go out for a run. Promise me you'll study." I wrapped my arms around his waist.
"I promise." As soon as he was out of the house I jumped in the shower, shaved my legs – twice before getting out. I grabbed the t-shirt he had been wearing under his dress shirt and put it on. Twisted my hair up into a loose bun and threw my glasses on. Grabbed the stupid book and went downstairs making sure to take my glass of wine and the bottle with me. I settled down on the couch in front of the fire and tried to concentrate. I think I had accomplished reading a page and a half before I heard Pony come back through the door.
"How's it going Ryann?" he asked leaning against the door jamb.
"Fine." I retort not looking up from the word I had read at least a hundred times.
"I bet." He sat down next to me. "That's too bad I was looking forward to taking a shower with you."
"Ponyboy Curtis that is not fair."
"The way you look right now isn't fair." He replied his voice huskier than normal. "How am I supposed to resist you." I scoot closer to him,
"You aren't supposed to." I turn to face him and swing my legs across his very slowly he runs his hands up them. "If you keep doing that, I'm not going to be able to read."
"So I shouldn't tell you what I'd like to do to you?"
"Not if you want me to study." He kisses me on the top of my head.
"How many pages have you read?"
"Two maybe three." Pony gives me a grin, shakes his head, and without a word, he pulls me closer, kissing me slowly and sweetly. One hand slipping under my t-shirt resting on my stomach – just that small skin to skin contact drives me crazy. The other hand pulling my hair out of the clip, running his fingers through it slowly. The kiss had started out sweet but quickly turned passionate. He somehow managed to get me on his lap, his lips never leaving mine. Reaching down, I yanked his t-shirt over his head, running my fingers over his chest and stomach – the man's body is amazing. He let out a soft moan that only added fuel to the already burning fire inside me. Lowering my head I kissed his neck, his shoulder…
"Ryann." He groaned.
"Hmm?" I leaned back a little giving him an opportunity to pull my shirt over my head.
"You are so beautiful." He stood up taking me with him in one fluid movement, my legs wrapped around his waist, my fingers in his hair. "We're taking that shower now." he mumbled.
We made it as far as the kitchen. "I can't wait anymore." He cleared what was left on the island with one swipe of his arm. Before setting me on the edge, he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of my underwear edging them down. Slowly he pulls away, gazing deeply into my eyes.
"What?" I ask, surprised at how breathless I am.
"I love you Ryann."
*********************************Present Day****************************
Kate's chin was practically on the floor. "You did it on the island?"
I couldn't tell if Jilly was grossed out or impressed. She was speechless.
"Uh, God no." I chuckled. "We did it on the stairs, on the way to the shower."
The girls burst into laughter.
~Jilly~
I sat and thought for a moment, recalling that time. "I don't know where to start."
"Start from when he first kissed you." Ryann suggested. "What did you do?"
"I guess I was kind of in shock because my knees went weak." I paused for a moment. "Good thing he had me pressed against him. We just stared at each other for the longest time, like we knew right then and there that…" There was no need to finish that sentence.
********************************flashback********* ******************
By Christmas, Soda had told us who he really was, where he was from, about his family, why he left home. Had to be hard for Soda to leave everyone behind like that. We understood why he had to protect himself. Dad never would have said anything because Soda had practically become another son to him. Dad even offered to pay for a plane ticket for him to go visit but he couldn't accept it. The fear of being sent to prison weighed heavily on him.
We started dating of course. Now, there's not too many places to go in Stavely other than Doc's, a country-western bar where they don't usually card you because everybody knows everybody. It's an old barn converted into a bar with a bandstand and huge dance floor. Soda had gone there several times with the other guys from the ranch. Most of the time we'd sit and talk, watch people dance.
Now, Soda admitted that was not a dancer but after I had gotten up to dance one of the guys, it inspired him to learn. Maybe it made him a little jealous, even though he didn't seem to mind, since he knew Doug. I'd been doing the two step since I was about 10.
I got back to my seat and Soda leaned toward me. "Teach me how to do that."
"What? You want learn how to dance?"
"Yeah."
Clearly he had no idea what he was in for but to my surprise he picked it up pretty quickly. His rhythm was good but his coordination needed some work.
*****************************present day***************************
"Sodapop Curtis, dancing?" Kate was baffled. "In all the years I've know that man, he never struck me as a dancer."
"Step aside, Travolta." Of course I was exaggerating and we all shared a laugh. "Seriously though, he's pretty good on the dance floor."
"You did it on the dance floor?" Kate teased.
I laughed. "No, we'll leave that to Ry and Pony."
Another laugh.
Ryann appeared impressed. "I hope you two will show us some of your moves at the wedding. I'm lucky to get Pony to slow dance."
I giggled. "Don't tell Darry or Pony, ok? It'll be interesting to get their reaction."
"So many secrets." Kate said with a grin. "So if you didn't do it on the dance floor, where did you do it?"
"Yeah. I recall you mentioning something about the barn."
"OK, OK…I'm gonna jump forward to the following Spring so I can make this and short, sweet and to the point."
********************************Flashback********* ********************
My mom thought it would be a good idea to have a party for my 18th birthday. I honestly didn't see the point but didn't want to break her heart, so I reluctantly agreed and compromised on a family only party. Even that made me cringe. The day finally came and I just wanted to get it all over with.
I woke that morning to find a card and a red rose on my dresser. Only the card wasn't a card, it was an invitation to a private celebration in my honor. Well, the day went on as normal. Soda was busy working with guys and I had some work to do inside the barn. Before I knew it, we were all being called in for dinner…and cake. Soda kept looking at the clock then excused himself, saying he forgot to do something.
By 7:30, everyone had dispersed to finish some duties. I had to put Belle in for the night and finish a few things in the barn. I thanked everyone and headed outside. As I approached the corral I could see that Belle wasn't there and found it odd. "Belle?"
I heard a whinny behind me and turned to find Soda on his horse. "She's already tucked in for the night, safe and sound." He said, smiling. "Ready to ride off into the sunset, little lady?" He asked in a really bad John Wayne impression.
"Where…?"
He didn't answer but held out his hand. I stepped toward him and he pulled me up behind him and headed out to wherever he was taking me. We stopped for a short time to watch the sunset.
"Wow." I noticed sunsets before but this time seemed more special.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Soda paused for a moment. "My brother, Ponyboy would be impressed. He was always making me look at them." Soda missed his brothers terribly. Since he told us about his family and
how close they were, I felt bad for him. Darry and Ponyboy sounded like great guys. I hoped to meet them soon.
We carried on for about 30 minutes until we reached our destination – an old storage barn at the other end of our property.
I dismounted the horse. "What are we doing here?"
"It's a surprise."
I shot him a suspicious look. "You left that invitation this morning."
"Uh, actually last night, while you were asleep." He admitted as he pulled the saddle off Derby and laid it on the post.
"How'd you get in the house?"
Again, Soda wouldn't answer. He just gave me a cryptic grin. "Come on." He covered my eyes with his hand when we reached the door, led me inside and took a few steps forward and I heard a click. "Ready?"
"I'm not sure but…"
He removed his hand and said "Open your eyes."
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Soda had somehow found the time to fix the place up a bit, string some lights and set up a cozy atmosphere. The old buck-port covered wagon added to the scene. A bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket, two glasses awaited us on a bed table next to the opened sleeping bag and blanket over a bed of hay. Oh! A single, red rose completed the set up.
"I'll take your speechlessness as a sign that you like it." He stated. "At least I hope…you like it." Soda's expression turned to impending disappointment.
"It's perfect, Soda. I love it." I pressed my lips to his and we kissed for several minutes.
"Mmm that was nice."
We sat on the sleeping bag, Soda poured the wine, handed me a glass and poured one for himself . "I have no idea as how to propose a toast so I'll just say, Happy Birthday to the most beautiful woman I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and many more to come."
I swear my face had to have turned about 100 shades of red but it was so sweet and romantic. How did I get so lucky to have met this man?
"How does it feel to be 18?"
"I don't feel a day over 17." I quipped, taking a sip of the wine.
"You don't look it either, babe." He smiled and kissed me. He then took our wine glasses and place them on the small table to the side, removed his boots then mine. One of my socks came off with my boot so he simply removed the other. "Nice toes."
"Thank you."
Soda crawled up to be close to me and kissed me very passionately for a long time, then he moved to my neck, which sent shivers up my spine. I tangled my fingers in his soft, dark hair. When we parted I felt as if I had drank the whole bottle of wine.
"It's getting warm in here."
Soda grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that." He got up on his knees and removed his button down shirt and I helped him remove his t-shirt. The sight of his bare chest nearly took my breath away despite how many times I'd seen him shirtless. He stroked my hair and my face and kissed my lips once more before he began undressing me slowly, pulling my top over my head as well. I took the elastic from the end of my braid and liberated my hair so it fell loosely over my shoulders and down my back.
We embraced each other as we kissed again, our bodies pressed together. I found myself kissing his neck and left shoulder then moved across his chest to the other.
"Oh babe." He whispered.
My hands caressed his body until they found his belt buckle which I unfastened and then the top button of his jeans and he was stripped down to his boxers. He then slid a finger into the waste band of my jeans, unbuttoned and unzipped them and pulled them off me and moments later we were naked…
I became a woman that night.
********************************Present Day***************************
The girls didn't say a word for a few moments so it made me wonder what they were thinking.
"Amazing" Ryann muttered. Her voice was very soft, like she was whispering.
Kate then added, "I bet that was the most liberating experience."
I nodded. Perhaps I could have told them more but, it was my first time with a man and it was so intimate and personal that I chose to keep it between Soda and me. Though when I got home the next morning, Mom knew that something was different about me. She was cool about it and I assured her that we were careful.
"Yeah, every time with Soda is beautiful. He knows me, he's my soul mate." I smiled.