Southern Charms (9 page)

Chapter 17

As time passed and got closer to the day that Xander was set to see the doctor for his medical clearance to ride again, he and his girl spent most of their free time together; so much so that her aunt, uncle, and his parents also noticed. One or the other was nearly always at the other’s house. They never did anything that gave clues as to the seriousness of the budding relationship, but none of the four older adults could find a single thing bad about how close they were becoming. Marshal and Steff were elated that their niece was actually -finally- smiling like they remembered. Jim and Bev thought the world of the girl, as well as the impact she had on their younger son. As a matter of fact, they figured they had her to thank for the fact their hell raisin’ son had managed to go for so long at home without them getting a call from jail.

Xander was just enjoying listening to his girl talk about her time in school, her friends back home, and this guy Cole he was actually looking forward to meeting. The way she spoke about her daddy reminded him of how he spoke of his mama, when he really got going. She didn’t talk about her mother much, something he could understand after the first time she told him about her. He didn’t press her for too much, just the random question that she would willingly answer if she knew it.

Xander was set to get it cast off in two days, but he decided to push his departure back. His mama wanted him to stay for the weekend, so she could have a barbeque before he left, since he wouldn’t be there for his birthday this year. Never one to turn down him mama’s barbeque and everything that it entails, he was quick to agree to her terms, but only after he wrangled the promise of her apple pie out of her.

The pair had talked about how Elizabeth was going to tell her guardians that she was leaving with him in a week, when he went back out on the road. He had already registered for different events over the next six weeks. Apparently, the return of Xander ‘Xan’ Steele from medical leave had sold out nearly every arena he was set to ride at. She had been absolutely astonished at that. He had simply shrugged it off, saying that he had been doing this a long time, and you don’t do it as long as he has without acquiring a following. He had also made it a point to make sure she knew that he was only interested in hearing her voice calling his name. Xander loved his fans, he really did. He wouldn’t be as big a name or get into half the shit he did without them, but he could certainly do without the groupies.

In the end, they had agreed that the most straightforward way was probably the best. Elizabeth decided she was going to tell them that night when she got home, to get it over with, instead of waiting for the last minute. The last thing she wanted was to hurt their feelings or anything like it.

Currently, they were in Xander’s room stretched out on his bed, Elizabeth reading a book while Xander was reading over a packet of rules and regulation for the arena he was going to be at first. When his girl decided she was tired of the quiet, she snatched them out of his hands. He didn’t move a muscle, his hands up like he was still holding the papers, an amused smirk on his face as he watched her wave the papers in his face. Moving his eyes from the packet to her, he cocked a brow. “Somethin’ on ya mind, Little Darlin’?”

Tossing the papers on his end table, she moved around to sit on his lap, putting her chin in her palm before whining. “I’m bored.”

Propping himself up on his elbows, he smiled at her. “That a fact? Well, whatcha wanna do?”

Giving a rough shrug of her shoulders, she shook her head a bit. “I don’t know. I just know I’m bored.”

Xander hummed a bit before looking out the window, then at his watch. “Well... if ya want, and we leave now, we can make the trip to town, and get to the drive-in before the show starts.”

Eyes lighting up, she squealed at the offer. “I haven’t been to the drive-in in forever.”

Giving the hips his girl was sitting on a light buck, he urged, “Well, come on then. Like I said, we gotta leave now if we gonna make it on time.”

Leaping off him, Elizabeth whirled back around to face him. “Are we gonna bring anythin’ with us?”

Shaking his head while smiling slightly at the thickness her accent had gotten to in the months she was in town, he glanced at her. “That’s what they created concession stands for. We’ll bring blankets and stuff for the truck bed, but we don’t have the time for much more than that.” Xander cocked his head to the side, trying to remember if the air mattress that he kept in the bed was there, or if he had taken it out.

When he couldn’t for the life of him remember, he shrugged, planning on it not being there as he and his girl pulled the blankets and pillows from his bed. After a quick stop off at the linen cupboard for a couple more, they were headed down stairs, making a stop in the kitchen for a couple of six packs for afterwards. They were actually for Saturday, but he figured he could just replace them later.

As Xander was loading the blankets and things into the truck bed, he paused, turning to the front of the drive when he saw his parents pull in. After closing the hatch to the steel box, he turned to lean on the side of the truck as they pulled up next to him. Once their truck was stopped, he went to his mama’s door and opened it for her, giving her a hand out.

Smiling up at her youngest, “Why thank ya, Sugar Pie.” Once she was out, “You and Elizabeth headed out, Xander?”

He nodded to her, “Yes Ma’am. We headed to the show tonight.”

“Well, that sounds nice. I hate to be a bother, Sugar, but before you go, would you mind givin’ your pa a hand right quick? I swear, he stubborn as a ol’ mule, and I worry ‘bout him hurtin’ his back again.”

Smirking at his mama, he just nodded. “No problem, Mama. Show me what you need me to carry and where you want it.”

All she ended up needing him to carry was the half steer and half pig for, apparently, the huge barbeque she was having on Saturday. Kyle had shown up to help with the rest of the bags of veggies, fruit and junk foods. He did try to help finish taking in the groceries, but he was shooed away by his mama, telling him they were gonna miss their movie if they didn’t get on the road. Kyle was more than capable of carrying a few bags. So, with a kiss to his mama’s cheek, he and his girl were on their way to town.

They got to the drive-in just before dark as the previews started, giving them about ten minutes to get the bed set up. So, he left her to that as he went to concession stand, coming back with a whole mess of crap, since neither of them had eaten much that day. He was starving and, for as little as the girl was, his Little Darlin’ could eat just about as much as he could. Where the hell it went, he couldn’t tell ya, but the girl could eat. Though it was strange, it was something he adored about her. That ‘I’ll just have a salad’ shit when out to eat annoyed the ever living hell out of him. The way he saw it, if they were supposed to eat rabbit food, the little Betty would have been born a fucking rabbit.

His favorite thing she had done thus far when out was about a week ago. He took her to a new steakhouse that had just opened and when she ordered a steak, the waiter asked her how she wanted it cooked. She looked at him with this innocent little smile and said, “Why dontcha just walk outside, take a chunk out of the cow’s ass, and put it on a plate. That’ll be just fine.” As it turned out, she has an iron and protein deficiency, which gives her a hard time digesting red meat cooked past a certain point. The redder the meat, the easier it was on her stomach.

Getting back to the truck, Xander handed over the ‘box’ of food, smiling at her when she let out squeal followed by, ‘Thanks, I’m absolutely starvin’. He climbed up into the bed, sitting next to his girl against the cab. Grabbing a couple of drinks out of the steel box next to him before handing one to Elizabeth, he threw an arm over her shoulders and pulled her right up next to him, settling in just as the movie got started.

If you were to ask him tomorrow what they went to see, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. He had spent most of his time watching her. He would take a guess at it being a horror flick, though, since his girl spent the majority of the time with her face turned into his arm. Every once in awhile, a small gasp or the occasional shriek would come out as she jumped a mile before tightening her grip on his arm, bringing a smile to his lips or a chuckle from his throat.

Little more than halfway through, he had pulled her into his lap and wrapped both arms around her, tucking her into his chest, kissing the top of her head before lowering his lips to her ear. “Jesus, Little Darlin’, it’s just a movie. Settle on down now, Punkin.”

Looking up at him, Elizabeth shook her head. “Why did we decide this was a good idea again? Why the hell would they play something like this?”

Xander smirked at her. “Oh, that’s an easy one, Sugar Britches. This is how the little ladies rope their fella into takin’ ‘em to the movies. They only give the name of the first movie to play then tell the poor bastard that they sat through the slasher so now they owe ‘em the chick flick that comes on next.”

Shaking her head and tucking it under his chin, she whimpered out. “I don’t like it.”

Rolling his eyes, Xander smiled at the top of her head. “You wanna go? We don’t gotta stay if it’s gonna scare ya like this.” When she nodded against him, he patted her ass, telling her to gather up the trash and not look at the screen while he put the blankets up. Since it was Saturday, he was thinking the honky-tonk was a good idea.

Chapter 18

When they pulled into the bar, it was already packed, the party of the night already in full swing. After a stop at the bar, Xander led his Little Darlin’ out to the dance floor, twirling her around to the opening bars of the next song.

By the time the song was over, Elizabeth was all smiles and giggles, the horror movie forgotten in lieu of being twirled around the floor. For the fact that he still had a boot cast on his foot, it certainly didn’t slow him none. Matter of fact, if you didn’t know it was there, you never would have guessed.

They danced for a few hours before Xander asked if she was ready to go. There was something he wanted to show her, and this was probably going to be his last chance to do so before they left. The week they were looking at was a busy one, so time was going to be too tight for him to be able to take her again.

The drive was about twenty minutes before Xander pulled off the main road onto a dirt path, staying on that for a few miles before the trees cleared and the path opened up to a small lake out in the middle of the woods. Looking at his Little Darlin’, Xander winked at her expression before cutting the engine. Keeping the radio on, he hopped out of his truck, going to open her door.

Elizabeth just stared at the picture the scenery made. The moon reflecting off the water, the fireflies twinkling across the field and lake... it looked like something in a painting. It was beautiful.

Opening her door and picking her up out of her seat like he always did, Xander smiled at his girl as he set her on her feet, then turned to look over the area. This was his favorite time to come here. The best part was, it was on the back end of his parent’s land, so there was literally no one to worry about... except maybe Kyle. With a quick text to him, that worry would be gone, too.

Looking back to her, Xander jerked his head back. “G’on now, I know you wanna chase them bugs.”

She did, too. Catching fireflies was something she hadn’t done since she was a kid so, with a giggle, she popped up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. Ducking quickly under his arms, she tore across the field to where there were thousands of the little fuckers, just ripe for the pickins.

Xander chuckled before calling after her. “Careful now, Little Darlin’. There are all kinds of rodents that dig holes out there.” He snorted when she called back some sort of nonsense, turned to the truck bed to grab a couple of blankets out, and then dropped them on the ground. He pulled out his phone to send that text to his brother, smirking a bit at the ‘have fun’ he got in return.

Looking after his laughing girl, Xander knelt down, pulled up the leg of his jeans, and began the task of taking off that god forsaken boot. He moaned in near orgasmic bliss as he dug his nails into his skin, his eyes rolling up into his head before sliding closed. He couldn’t wait until he didn’t have to put the thing back on, ‘cause it itched like a mother fucker. Turning to sit on his ass, he kicked his actual boot off, took off his sock, then pulled his shirt off after digging his cigarettes out of his pocket, lighting one up and leaning on his palms. Shifting slightly to get comfortable, he looked out over the water while his girl got the kid in her out.

Elizabeth ran around the field for a few minutes, catching and releasing bug after bug. When she grew bored of that, she turned to head back to the lake, stopping short at the sight that met her eyes. She had thought nothing was going to top the scene of the water and field, but she was dead wrong. Xander was lounging on a blanket bathed in the moonlight in nothing but his jeans and black hat. She was positive he never took it off, barring that time she took it from him. The shadows covering his body made his already defined muscles stick out all the more, allowing her to count the six pack he called abs, even from the distance she was from him. His hat was low on his forehead, shrouding his face completely in shadow until he took a hit of his cigarette, lighting it in a rosy hue. He was the picture of relaxation and serenity.

Feeling eyes on him, Xander turned to his girl while propping his hat up a bit out of his eyes, smirking a wide one at the gobsmacked look on her face. Finishing his cigarette and flicking the butt off to the side, he took off his hat, stood up, and began to unbuckle his belt. He undid the button and stripped down to his boxers, which he was only wearing because he had planned on bringing her here, regardless of what they did that night. Winking at his girl, he took off toward the water, grabbed ahold of the rope swing, and soared out over the water, letting go with a ‘yeehaw’ before splashing into the lake.

By the time he surfaced, his girl was at the water’s edge. Shaking his head hard to get his hair out of his face, he called out. “Come on in, Little Darlin’. This shit feels great.”

She shook her head. “I ain’t doin’ that.”

Chuckling, he tilted his head to the right. “There’s a dock few feet yonder. Come on, Sugar Britches, don’t be makin’ me swim by myself now.”

Giving him a look he’d come to understand was her calling him an asshole, he watched as his girl twirled on her toes and went over to the blanket, pulling her tank off on the way there. She sat down to take off her boots and socks before wiggling out of her painted-on jeans. After taking off the hat he had bought her a few weeks back, he watched as she trotted over to the dock, calling out to him. “I'ma be pissed if this is cold.” She then took a flying leap off the end of the dock.

Shaking his head, he swam over to where she landed, rearing back a bit when she surfaced, so he didn’t run into her.

She turned to him, running her hands down her face to get the water out of her eyes, then just looked at him a moment before grinning and splashing at him. As he was turned away, she giggled, making her escape from retaliation

Xander whipped back around at the sounds of her splashing, deciding to dive for her ankle. “Oh, no you don’t, Girly.” Giving her a light tug back, he swam around in front of her, taking her wrist and pulling her to him. Crooking a finger under her chin, he cocked a brow at her. “Now, that wasn’t nice.”

Setting her hands on his shoulders, she just continued to grin at him while giggling a bit. “It was funny, though.”

Wrinkling his nose at her, “Ha ha,” he dipped his head to capture her lips with his. When he felt her arms slide around his neck, he tilted her head back more before letting go of her chin altogether, so he had a free hand to help tread water and keep them from going under. He wasn’t quite able to touch the bottom where they were. Letting go of her wrist, he grabbed behind her knee to hike it up over his hip. He groaned when she followed with the other one, squeezing her thighs as she pressed herself closer to him.

Elizabeth had no idea how it happened, but out of nowhere, her back was pressed against one of the posts to the dock, her hands taken from around Xander’s neck and being restrained above her head in one of his, the action arching her back from the odd angle.

Now that he could touch the lakebed, Xander let go of his girl’s leg to settle it on her hip, pulling her even harder against him as he pressed against her. Tilting his head slightly, he nipped at her bottom lip, a groan escaping when she parted her lips for him. There was no second guessing, no trepidation on his part. He dove head first into the kiss, dominating her tongue when it came out to play, taking full possession of her mouth when she submitted.

He about came undone when she rolled those hips of hers against him.

Letting go of her hands completely, he wrapped both of his under her thighs before turning to leave the water, never breaking the kiss. On dry land, he walked with a slight limp due to the added weight and lack of support for his ankle, but he made it the blanket before he set his girl on her feet. One hand on the small of her back, he guided her to lay down, grabbing his jeans and moving them out from under her so they had a chance to stay dry, but still kept them in reach. If they kept on like they were, he was gonna need ‘em.

Reaching the point that they would normally get doused in cold water for one reason or another, Xander threw all caution to the wind, reaching behind his girl’s back. After a short wrestling match with the wet clasp of her bra, he got it undone and pulled it off her, tossing it up into the truck bed so they would be able to find it later.

Pushing himself up on his hands, jade green eyes smoldered as they locked on liquid dark chocolate, his voice deep and shaky. “If you change your mind, I’ll stop. I ain’t gonna lie, I ain’t gonna like it, so if you don’t want to go no further, now’s the time to tell me.”

She wasn’t gonna stop shit, and the look in her eyes told him as much. It was only with Herculean effort he swallowed the, ‘Oh, thank god’ before dipping his head down to take one of her perky peaks in his mouth, lightly raking his teeth across it before swirling his tongue and giving it a suck. After paying ample attention to one, he switched to the other. One hand slowly slid down her side, making her jolt slightly when he found a ticklish spot. Filing that away for later, his hand continued its path down over her hip, across her thigh, to its final destination of the back of her knee. Tightening his grip, he hiked it back up over his hip before rolling his hips against hers.

Leaving the peaks and traveling the valley, Xander lightly kissed, nipped, and drug the tip of his tongue down her torso, letting it dip down into her belly button before continuing to the brim of her tiny little boy shorts. Sitting up on his haunches, he looked up at her, smirking at the picture she made as he took the sides of her underwear in his grip. He gave the wet fabric a tug to get it over her hips, then started down her never ending legs before tossing them up in the truck bed, too.

Dropping back down on his hands over her, Xander resumed his actions, dipping his head down to bite teasingly at her hip before moving lower, dragging his lips across her wet flesh... only for her thighs to slam shut right before he made it to his final destination.

Lifting his eyes to hers, he watched as she shook her head, a smirk pulling at his lips when her airy voice reached his ears. “Dude, gross. I just got off my period, and ya know it.”

With a tiny shrug, he set his hands on her knees to pull them back apart, stretching out along her body, his nose right above hers, “Suit yourself.” Then he kissed her again. It didn’t take a second before they were at war with each other’s mouths. Elizabeth brought her feet up to Xander’s hips and, using her toes, started the task of pushing his soaked boxers down his thighs.

Once his boxers were to his ankles, Xander just kicked them off, not giving a damn if he ever found them again as one hand searched for his jeans. Once they were located, he pulled his wallet out of the back pocket. After fishing, he found the condom he was after. Pulling back a bit, he chuckled against his girl’s lips when she wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to keep him right where he was.

Tugging back harder and breaking her hold on his neck, he brought the wrapper to his mouth and tore it open with his teeth, winking at her when he saw the spark of understanding in her eyes. As much as he liked the girl, he wasn’t quite ready to be a daddy just yet.

Rising up a bit, he went to roll the condom on, only for her to take it from him to do herself. He would be lying if there wasn’t a flash of male pride when he saw her eyes go wider at the size. He had told her there was nothing little about his prick, so this shouldn’t have been as surprising to her as it seemed to be.

Looking her in the eyes as he lined himself up, he made sure. “Ya ready, Little Darlin’?” Taking the fact that she just lifted her head and kissed him as confirmation, he began to push forward, slowly at first until the head had passed. Then, with a roll of his hips, he was sheathed to the hilt... hip to hip.

He would like to say that their first time together was slow and sweet lovin’, but it wasn’t. When he pulled back, she rolled her hips hard and high, throwing any thoughts about slow or sweet out of his head as her hips slammed against his. Hissing through his teeth, he locked eyes with his girl, pulling back to the head before thrusting against her with enough force to move her back.

Her eyes rolling up in her head, Elizabeth rolled her hips against him, trying to find that perfect angle of her body to get him right where she wanted him. Locking her ankles behind his back, she folded herself into a ball, a whore-worthy moan coming from her throat when he hit the spot buried so deep in her body, it took a real man to find.

As he continued his movements, Xander was completely overcome with the sight of the full moon’s light reflecting off her eyes, making them shine like chocolate diamonds. Her emotions ran a mile a minute through them, too fast for him to catch. Dipping his head, he pressed his lips to hers as he ghosted the tips of his fingers down her side, over her hip and along her thigh, gripping it lightly before pulling it higher up his hip, pressing deeper inside.

Slowing slightly but not lessening the force, his hips rolled in time with hers, his eyes sliding shut as a soft moan slipped from his throat. Lowering himself to his forearm, he slipped his fingers into her hair, the closing of his fingers giving a slight tug to the roots.

Lips coming apart, a gasp came from both of them as they stared into each other’s eyes. If you were ever to ask either of them, this would be the moment that they would say they started to fall for the other.

Pressing his forehead to his girl’s, Xander arched into her, her head straining back. He took full advantage of the action, his lips finding her throat, pressing a soft kiss there before sliding along to the side of her neck, scraping his teeth across it.