Early the next morning they awoke and immediately started laughing. Had it really been that good? Yes, it had. Then Bettina promptly noticed the big erection between Travis’s legs, so she went down on him, sucked that thing, and started her day with a mouthful of his cum. Then she fucked him.
Bettina pretty much moved in after that. She wanted to sleep with him and fuck him as much as possible, and Travis felt the same. She still went home to help out with her younger siblings sometimes, but things were a little strained around there with her parents, so she didn’t hang around much.
Travis bought an old Volkswagen Bug for four hundred dollars so Bettina could get to and from town without having to bike it or take the truck. While Bettina went to work, Travis’s routine was fishing in the morning, going to town in the afternoon to sell his catch and run his errands, and then go home and write.
The writing had taken off. It had turned into a story instead of a sermon. He kept the first part about going to war and the atrocities he’d witnessed, but it turned into something quite different from what he’d envisioned when he started. And it was good. He knew it was good and he had submitted a couple excerpts to various magazines, hoping to get them published.
At night, if he was really on a roll, Travis would write into the night, and Bettina would wait in bed, reading and listening to his typewriter bang away in the other room. When the typewriter was put to bed for the night, Travis would go to his bed and bang Bettina. He had to, he was so keyed up, it would be the only way he could get to sleep afterward. He needed her. It was expected and Bettina looked forward to it. She wanted him inside her all the time. And in the mornings, Travis always woke up with a massive hard-on, so she would take it into her mouth and suck him until he came.
----
One Sunday morning they were in bed naked, holding each other. They had just concluded a hot session of oral sex, going down on each other in a pleasurable, intense sixty-nine which ended in explosive orgasms. Travis loved eating Bettina’s pussy; he thought it was so sexy that her black hole was pink inside, the contrast excited him. And Bettina loved sucking his white cock. She did so every morning.
“Will you do me a favor?” Bettina asked.
“Of course,” Travis said. “What?"
“Fuck me in the ass,” she said.
“What? Really? You want that?”
“Yeah.”
“You like it that way?”
“I think I will. I want you to have all of me.”
She got up and walked to the dresser drawer where she kept some of her clothes. She lay back on the bed face-down and handed Travis a tube of KY jelly. She wiggled her ass and spread her cheeks for him and Travis was impressed when he saw her asshole dilate wide open and close a couple times.
“Ooh, looks like somebody’s ready,” he said, as he was screwing the cap off of the tube.
He squeezed a big glob into the crack of her ass and he knew right away it was much more than was needed. He pushed a healthy dose into her asshole with his finger and wiggled it around in there a few times.
“Ah, that’s nice,” Bettina sighed.
He slathered his cock with the stuff from its tip to his nuts. There was plenty left over so he rubbed it all over her butt. Her whole ass was glistening with the stuff.
“There. A nice, shiny black ass,” he said.
Bettina rolled over on her back and shove two pillows under her ass. She raised her legs so they were pretty near wrapped around the back of her head.
“I want to see your face,” she said.
She put her hands on her slick buttocks and pulled them apart. Her asshole was ready for him. He placed the head of his dick against her opening and held it there for a moment, his sensitive nose cone resting against her rubbery flange. Then he pushed it inward.
Bettina gasped as it entered her. She felt it reach into her, stretching her, then back off, then in a little more, then back, then again, and again, slowly, gently reaming her. When Travis had about half of his cock into her, he picked up the pace. She was grunting with each push, and it felt to her like a log was being rammed up her ass, but it was gliding in and out seamlessly, and the more it slid in and out of her, the more she liked it. She felt proud she could take that whole big thing up there. Before long, Travis was fucking her pretty hard.
“God, this feels fucking good,” he said.
“You got all of me, now. Take it,” Bettina said sharply, staring into his eyes. “Now you’ve fucked all of me. I’m yours now.”
That made Travis fuck her even harder. His eyes were darting back and forth from Bettina’s eyes to her asshole, where he was mesmerized at the sight of his white rod disappearing into and reappearing from her black ass.
“This feels so fucking good!” Travis almost shouted.
“Yeah, you like fuckin’ my ass. You own my ass now. I’m all yours now.”
Travis was banging her like he was post hole digger. They were both groaning with each thrust and Travis wouldn’t have imagined that he ever would stick his whole dick up Bettina’s ass, but he was, all the way in, then out, then all the way in again, over and over. Then an odd idea popped into his head. He stopped for a moment with the length of his cock embedded into her.
“What’s the matter?” Bettina asked.
“Nothing’s the matter,” Travis said. “Just had a thought, that’s all.”
“What thought?”
“I just happened to think, what if your Momma could see us now?”
Bettina burst out laughing and her body shook, and Travis could feel her asshole quaking around his cock. Travis grinned and soon both of them were shaking with laughter.
“She’d pray for me, I guess,” Bettina finally said, and they had another laugh.
Travis slowly started swaying his cock in and out again, and gradually picked up speed.
“Damn, this feels so fucking good,” he said again.
“You better hurry up and come. Come in my ass.”
Travis pounded away and within a minute he let out a belching roar and his hot cum climbed its way up through his shaft like a flame thrower. Ropes of his cum ripped their way out, deep into the sweet spot of Bettina’s ass. He sighed loudly as he pulled out and he watched her sphincter, wide as a silver dollar, slowly close and return to its sexy pucker. He collapsed beside her.
“That was so fucking good,” Travis said. “You okay?”
“Oh yeah,” she said. “My ass is yours now.”
“Let me see my new ass,” Travis said.
He rolled her over on her stomach. He traced his fingers over her butt and along her crack and fingered her asshole, then he did the same with his tongue.
“Such a nice ass,” he said. “It looks like a heart.”
“What?” Bettina said, raising and turning her head.
“It does. Like an upside-down heart. You know how a heart has two round parts at the top and a point at the bottom? Your ass has two round cheeks at the bottom, and your crack points right up to the point between your legs.”
Bettina giggled as he circled her butt cheeks with his fingers and then slipped a hand between her legs and fingered her pussy.
They kissed gently as Travis caressed her butt and her crack and her hole.
----
The following week Travis didn’t go fishing as much. He stepped up his writing and had outlined the last few chapters and wanted to get it all down on paper while it was fresh in his mind and the words were flowing. First of the week he did take a drive to a jewelry store in the small city across the river, and made a return trip at the end of the week. Bettina’s twentieth birthday was coming the next weekend and he wanted to get her something nice.
Bettina worked at the drug store and helped out at home in the evenings. Her mother wasn’t feeling well and was overwhelmed. But she never failed to go home to the cabin at night, no matter how late. She’d get there and Travis would be at his desk and she would try to get him into bed. A couple times he wasn’t quite ready so she fucked him right there in his chair. She liked sleeping with him, holding him, waking up with him. She liked having the fresh memory of his cock inside her as she went about her day.
Travis picked up his mail on Friday and there was a letter from a national magazine to which he’d submitted an excerpt of his book. It would be published in an upcoming issue and his check would be sent when they went to press.
On Saturday evening Travis took Bettina to dinner across the river. They dressed up a little, but not too much, and got a prominent table overlooking the river. The white patrons couldn’t help stealing glances at the obviously-entranced salt-and-pepper odd couple sharing smiles and lobsters in front of the large windows. The black servants seemed to enjoy the floor show too.
With dinner over, Travis gave Bettina her birthday gift. It was a flat box wrapped in yellow paper with red ribbon. She tore it open and put her hand over her mouth and gasped when she saw what it was: a white gold chain attached to an upside-down gold heart with a diamond in the middle.
She started crying and said, “It’s beautiful!”
“Happy Birthday, Bettina,” Travis said. “I had it custom-made especially for you.”
He slid closer and clasped it around her neck. The gold chain and heart and diamond sparkled like a beacon against her ebony skin.
“I’m falling in love with you, you know that don’t you?” he said.
Bettina nodded up and down emphatically with watery cheeks and Travis kissed her and tasted the salt of her tears.
“I love you too,” she said softly.
The waiter brought out a small cake and some of the staff sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her, and the customers gave them a round of applause. Bettina blew out the candle and they each had several bites of cake as they held hands.
“Let’s go home and make love,” Bettina whispered.
Travis left plenty of cash on the table and they got up to leave. They received another round of applause as they walk/limped out of the room.
----
On the ride home, Bettina had a hard time keeping her hands off of him. Travis told her to stop, move over before she caused an accident.
“I want you to come in all my holes tonight,” she said.
“Okay, but let’s get home first.”
“I love my necklace.”
“I do too.”
“I’m never taking it off.”
They talked about different things to take her mind off his penis. She talked about her job and her family and her mother’s health. She asked about how his book writing was coming along.
“It had been going really, really well the last few weeks, and I had the last few chapters all mapped out,” Travis said. “But now I’m almost done, just a couple chapters to go, but just I can’t seem to finish it.”
There was a silence for a moment or two.
“Maybe you are finished,” Bettina said.
Those words hung in the air and there was quiet while Travis thought about what she’d said. Maybe she was right.
They got back to the cabin. Bella greeted them and ran and did her business and followed them inside. Travis’s dick was hard and Bettina’s pussy was wet so they undressed each other in a frenzy…except for her necklace, of course…and he took his woman to bed.
His cock slipped into her with smooth grace and they were fucking in an instant, perfectly in tune. He kissed her neck and licked her upside-down heart and fingered her ass and fucked her mouth with his tongue. It was only a few minutes before they both reached orgasm together.
As he ejaculated Travis realized that Bettina was right. He WAS finished. The book was finished, the ending just needed to be tightened up. I AM finished, he thought.
I’M NOT IN PAIN OR PISSED-OFF ANYMORE.
----
Travis worked hard on his book over the next few days. He had edited it over and over as he’d been writing and rewriting it, so it was pretty much ready for submission, other than for the last chapter. He rewrote the chapter, simplifying and resolving things as best he could. Then he typed like a madman for a few days. He had contact information for five publishers that looked like a good fit for the book. He typed five copies with carbons and mailed the originals with a cover letter that named the popular national magazine in which an excerpt was already scheduled for publication. He mailed all five packages out first-class from the post office in town. Then he got back to fishing.
Bettina was busier than ever too. She worked full-time at the drug store and part-time helping her mother and grandmother at home. But she never failed to go back to the cabin at night, against her mother’s wishes, to sleep, fuck and wake up with Travis.
After a couple of weeks, Travis started checking his P.O. box more often, hoping for a letter from a publisher. He thought maybe he should get a phone installed but nixed the idea. It would probably be expensive for the phone company to run a line out to his cabin, plus the only person he’d want to call lived with him.
The first correspondence he received back from a publisher was a form letter saying thanks, but no thanks. It wasn’t what they were looking for. Then a couple weeks after that, he got a letter from another publisher saying they had received his manuscript but they were currently backlogged and would be in touch if they thought it was something they’d like to pursue. After that, another Dear John letter from a third publisher.
Finally, on a Wednesday a few weeks later, a fourth letter was delivered to his mailbox that was a little different. It had a sense of urgency, they were interested. It asked that Travis call at his earliest convenience. Travis walked over to the bank and bought a roll of dimes and then found a pay phone in the lobby of the hotel.
Somehow Travis’s manuscript had landed on the desk of an editor named Ed Wright who loved the book and also happened to know an editor at the magazine that was planning to publish the excerpt. They spoke and were both enthusiastic about the work and exchanged ideas about promotion and perhaps allowing the magazine to run several excerpts and perhaps an interview in consecutive issues if Ed’s firm published the book.
Travis inserted two dimes and dialed the long-distance number and an operator came on the line and told him how many more dimes to put into the slot for the first three minutes. A woman with a pleasant voice answered and he told her he wanted to talk to Ed Wright, and that Ed was expecting his call.
Three minutes came and went while he was still on hold. He was dropping more coins into the slot when Ed came on the line.
“Hello, Travis, this is Ed Wright, how are-- ” he said. And then, “Are you calling from a pay phone?”
“Yessir, Mr. Wright. I don’t have a home phone.”
“Goodness gracious. Does that phone have a number on it?”
“Yessir,” Travis said, and gave him the number.
“Okay, Travis, don’t move. I’m going to call you right back. We need to talk without you having to put coins in the phone.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wright.”
“Call me Ed. Talk to you in half a minute.”
It didn’t take that long, and Travis picked up instantly. Ed told him that he loved his book and the story and the passion with which it was written, and a couple other editors had also read it and think we can sell it. He said he felt like he’d been to war with him. He’d wanted to cry tears of pain in the first part but tears of joy at the end. He said he knew people at the magazine too, and they’d already discussed cross-promotion. He had a good feeling about this.
“We have to get you up here to New York, to meet our team and talk about publishing this book. How soon can you come up here? I’ll send you a round trip plane ticket and we’ll pick you up at the airport and put you up in a nice hotel for a couple of days.”
“I could come up next week,” Travis said. “But I’d rather not fly. Could I maybe take the train? There’s a depot not too far from where I live. An airport is hours away.”
“Of course, Travis, whatever you’re comfortable with. I’ll get working on this right away. I’ll send you the train ticket express mail. We’ll plan on meeting next Wednesday and Thursday, would that work?”
Travis said it would. Ed told him to check his mailbox on Friday and he should have the ticket, if not sooner. Travis walked on air, as nonchalantly as he could, back to his truck.
----
Travis couldn’t wait to tell Bettina the good news. He bought champagne and put it on ice and packed a picnic basket with bread and cheese and meat and fruit and other eats. He stowed them in the boat along with a quilt and a couple blankets.
When Bettina got home Travis and Bella were sitting on the porch waiting for her. There were two glasses of champagne on the table. She sat down beside him and asked what was up.
“A toast,” Travis said, handing her a glass. “To this maybe-author maybe getting his book published.”
Her eyes grew big as saucers. “Really?”
Travis shrugged. He told her about the letter and his phone call with the editor and his upcoming trip to New York.
“Oh, my god that’s wonderful! I can’t believe it. They’re going to publish your book!”
“Maybe.”
“They will, I know it,” she said and stood up, whooped and hollered and danced around before hugging and kissing him. They tapped glasses and drank with her sitting on his lap.
“Will you take care of Bella while I’m gone?” he asked.
She gave him an are-you-crazy look and said yes, of course, that was a dumb question.
They all three got in the boat and Travis took them out on the river to a quiet, private cove. They ate their dinner and drank champagne to celebrate and then spread the blankets and made love under the stars while the boat bobbed in the gentle tide and Bella kept watch.
----
The afterglow of good news did not shimmer for long.
On Friday afternoon Travis went to town to pick up his mail. He was pleased to see he had received the envelope from the publisher. It included a round-trip train ticket, an itinerary, and a brochure about the publisher with Ed Wright’s business card attached. He would board the train Monday midday and would arrive at Penn Station in New York City twenty-seven hours later. A driver would greet him and take him to his hotel. The schedule showed that the train would go through many towns on the trip north.
He shopped at the market and then visited the hardware for some supplies. He was planning to stop at the drug store but he didn’t see the VW parked in the side lot where Bettina usually parked it. Travis figured she was out making a delivery. The pharmacy had customers they delivered prescriptions to and the employees made the deliveries. Bettina had mentioned a few times how nice it was to have the bug and not have to ride her bike.
He and Bella rode back to the cabin together. He wanted to wash the truck and the boat before supper.
When the chores were done Travis grabbed a cold beer and sat on the porch to wait for Bettina. In between throws of the tennis ball he was thinking to himself, looking forward to the weekend just beginning. He was getting hard thinking about Bettina, and the next three nights of lovemaking they would share before he left on Monday for five days.
Finally, Bettina drove up, got out of the car and walked toward the porch. Travis could tell immediately by her stride and the look on her face that something was terribly wrong. When she stepped up onto the porch, he could tell she’d been crying. She sat down beside him without even saying hi.
“Bettina, what’s the matter?” he asked.
She instantly burst into tears. Travis took her hand in his and she squeezed him tight. Then he took her in his arms until the sobs had abated some. She took a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.
“It’s Momma,” she said. “It’s really bad.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“She’s a lot sicker than we thought. For weeks and weeks she’s been going to doctors and specialists and labs and taking tests and having x-rays, and been bounced around to so many offices, running up bills. Over a thousand dollars already, and my parents don’t have good insurance, and don’t have the money to pay.”
Bettina blew her nose into her saturated tissue. Travis got up and quickly returned with a handkerchief and handed it to her.
“Go on,” he said.
“Well, they found a tumor. In her lung. The doctor thinks it’s malignant. So far it hasn’t spread to any other organs, but he said it’s aggressive and probably would if they don’t go in and get it out.
“But it’s expensive. We already owe so much and they want another fifteen hundred dollars just to agree to do the operation, and that’s not all it will cost with any complications and recovery and follow-up and who-knows-what. Oh, Travis, what are we going to do?”
She broke down into tears again. Travis held her and kissed her face and forehead.
“How’s the rest of your family?”
“Daddy’s a wreck. He doesn’t want to leave her side but he knows he’s gotta work. And I gotta be there to help out, with the kids, the house, the cooking, the chickens, even though I’d rather be with you…”
“I understand,” Travis said, patting her back and hugging her tightly. “Of course you need to be with them. They need you.”
Bella knew something was wrong. She quit playing ball and rested her muzzle in Bettina’s lap. Bettina stroked her ears and smiled through her pain.
“You wait here, Baby. I’ll be right back,” Travis said.
He went into the cabin and walked to his desk. He took a large envelope out of the hutch and walked to his bedroom. He moved the rug, lifted up the floorboard, and pulled out the steel box. He opened it and pulled out three rubber-banded bundles of a thousand dollars each and put them in the envelope. He replaced the box, floorboard and rug and walked back out on the porch.
He sat back down beside her, took her hand and kissed it. He handed her the envelope.
“Here’s three thousand dollars,” he said. “Pay her bills first thing Monday morning, and then pay the doctor for the surgery. Schedule the operation as soon as is possible, don’t wait, the sooner he can get it out the sooner your Momma can heal up.”
“Three thousand dollars? Oh My God!” Bettina said, holding the envelope like it was radioactive. “How did you get…”
“Don’t worry, it’s my money. I didn’t rob a bank or anything. I don’t spend a lot of money, so I save it.”
Bettina looked like she was in a trance. “Travis, I can’t accept this. Plus I don’t know when they could ever pay you back.”
“Let’s not worry about that. I love you, and it’s your Momma, and you love her. Take it, it’s for a good cause, don’t you think? It’s the right thing to do.”
“I can’t believe this. And after the way she spoke to you…”
“I’m doing it for you.”
“Travis, I don’t know what to say.”
“How about, ‘I love you’ and ‘Goodbye’? I would love to throw you across the bed and make love to you right now, but your family needs you. I’ll be waiting, as long as it takes. Just remember I’ll be gone Monday through Friday this coming week, and don’t forget about Bella.”
Bettina kissed Bella on the top of her head and then kissed Travis on his mouth.
“God, I love you,” she said.
“I love you too. Now you better get going. Your family needs you.”
Travis spanked her on the rump as she left the porch. He watched her drive off and then threw the tennis ball across the yard and watched Bella tear after it. He picked up his can of beer and took a sip. It was warm as piss so he went inside to get a cold one.
----
The following week was a whirlwind for Travis. He couldn’t sleep on the train so by the time he reached New York on Tuesday afternoon he was dead-tired. At the station, there was a guy standing on the platform holding up a sign with his name on it and they walked to a waiting car and the chauffeur dropped him off at his hotel. He ate something and went straight to bed and slept all the way through till morning.
Wednesday and Thursday Travis was like a blind man in a maze. Tours, meetings, lunches, dinner, demonstrations, a non-stop overload of information, planning and sales pitches. When they dropped him off at the train station Thursday afternoon he was tired and confused and looking forward to being alone on the train with no one to talk to. He had a signed contract in his hand. It was the standard contract for new authors and he would receive a fifteen hundred dollar advance. It sounded good to him.
When he got back to his cabin Friday night, the place was dark and empty, but there was a note from Bettina. It read:
Dear Author,
Welcome home!
When you read this please go out to the dock and play your trumpet for a few minutes. Play something happy, I’ll be listening. Then me and Bella will be here in 15 minutes.
Love,
Bettina
P.S. Can’t wait to get you in bed!
Travis took his horn down to the dock. He blew what he thought was a rather swinging version of ‘Chattanooga Choo-Choo’ out into the night. It seemed appropriate after spending twenty-seven hours on a train.
----
When Bettina and Bella showed up a few minutes later, there was a semi-menage-a-trois on the front porch with hugs and kisses all around. Bettina had brought fried chicken and collards and potatoes and while they ate they filled each other in on what had happened that week. Travis told her about his trip and having signed a publishing deal, and Bettina told him all about her week too.
Her parents were flabbergasted that Travis would loan them the money, especially after the way she had spoken to him. They swore they’d find a way to pay him back someday. Momma is very appreciative and very sorry, and wants you to know that. They paid their outstanding bills on Monday. They paid the surgeon as well, and the operation was scheduled for the following week. Momma and Daddy seem to be better because some of the worry is lifted.
“You made it all possible, Travis. Thank you,” Bettina said.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “But now it’s payback time. I’m gonna take it out in trade.”
She giggled. “What you gonna do?”
“You’re gonna be sore all over by the time you leave here, girl.”
“That sounds good.”
He stood up and walked behind her chair. He bent over and kissed her neck and fondled her breasts.
“How you want it first?” he asked.
“In my mouth,” she said, and turned her head to kiss his lips. “Then vertical.”
Bettina loved to fuck standing up or against the wall or facing Travis as he sat on a chair or the bed. She loved to control her movements up and down because she could slam her cunt down and grind it on his cock and feel it being shoved up deep inside her.
They went to the bed and undressed as they kissed. It had been over a week and they were starved for each other. Once Travis’s shirt was off, Bettina tore at his pants. His cock was hard and it sprang upward as she pulled off his boxers and she sucked it into her mouth with a slurp.
Bella spread out on the rug and took it all in stride. She was used to the sounds of her Mom and Dad fucking and sucking.
----
The next few months were very busy.
Bettina had her job at the drug store, and even though she had moved in with Travis, she had her additional responsibilities at her parents’ house. Along with her grandmother, she had to look after the younger kids, cook and tend to the garden and animals. Her mother’s operation had been successful but her convalescence would take time. But even after her long days, Bettina always made it back to the cabin to go to bed with Travis. The girl loved to fuck.
Travis traveled back and forth to New York several times while his book was being readied for publication. He had to meet with his editor, approve the jacket cover and blurbs, and read every single word of the galley to be sure it was mistake-free. There were interviews to do, which he loathed. The magazine had published the excerpt to positive reviews and it would be publishing a second excerpt and then an interview in the next two issues. Despite the thrill he was getting from being published and watching his book take shape, he was always anxious to get back to the cabin, and to his two girls. Especially Bettina, because he knew she’d be ready to fuck his brains out. He’d had plenty of girlfriends in the past, but none had ever wanted sex as much as Bettina. Every which way.
He’d gotten back on a Saturday evening after a few days in New York and Bettina and Bella met him in town. They went to a little barbecue place that had seating outside under an awning surrounded by pine trees. They ate ribs and drank beer while Bella lay beside them and was the happy recipient of occasional, intentional pork droppings. They didn’t get the funny looks they used to get; townspeople had become accustomed to the mixed couple, the local black girl and the white loner from the point.
The small town talk had made the rounds and everybody had found out where the money for Jolene’s medical bills had come from. And they knew that Travis had gotten himself a book deal and an excerpt had been published in a prominent national magazine, and that particular issue had promptly sold out everywhere in town. Their little town was suddenly on the map.
After the ribs, they went home and they were barely inside the front door of the cabin before Bettina was removing her clothes and leading Travis to their bedroom. They were no sooner naked in the bed before she had his dick in her mouth.
They stayed naked for the next fifteen hours. They only got up to piss, get a drink or brush their teeth. And they put Bella out one time. They would both look back on it as the longest and most intense session of crazy sex they’d ever had. There was cock sucking and pussy eating and cunt fucking and ass licking and butt fucking and screaming orgasms. Bettina got it up against the wall and sitting on Travis’s cock while he bounced her up and down like a Pogo stick. They did sleep a few hours, but then on Sunday morning, they did it all again.
It was early afternoon before they hauled their asses out of bed. Travis had just ejaculated into Bettina’s asshole for the second time and collapsed on top of her. They were both tired, sweaty and very hungry. Bettina jumped out of bed and threw on one of Travis’s t-shirts, and went to the kitchen to whip up some breakfast. Travis put on a pair of pants and a sweatshirt. Soon the aroma of eggs and sausage cooking filled the cabin.
Travis put Bella out to take care of business, but after a couple minutes, she hadn’t returned to the door. She was outside barking. He looked out of the window to see a wood-paneled station wagon pulling up to the cabin.
“You better go put some clothes on, girl,” Travis called to Bettina. “Your Momma’s here.”
Bettina ran to the window. “Oh God, she brought the whole family,” she said, and hustled into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of jeans. Then she turned off the stove and they walked out on the porch. Travis stood with his arm around her. Bella sat beside them, the sentinel.
Bettina’s father was behind the wheel and her mother was in the passenger seat, with the little girl between them. Grandma and the two boys were in the back.
Bettina’s father, Robert was a large man. He got out and walked around and assisted his wife out of the car. Both were dressed in their Sunday best. Jolene held onto her husband and they walked a few steps closer to the porch.
“Good morning, Momma. Good morning, Daddy,” Bettina said.
“More like afternoon, ain’t it?” Jolene said. “See you missed church again, too.”
“Would you like to come inside?”
“No, we’ll just be a minute,” she said, and took a step closer. “I come to see you, Mr. Travis. I wanted to come sooner but I’m just now getting back to feeling better and getting around.”
Jolene took a deep breath before she continued.
“I come to thank you and tell you how sorry I am. I pray that you can find a way to accept my sincerest apology. I feel so bad and was so wrong. I don’t know how you found it in your heart to loan us that money after the way I spoke to you. It was mean-spirited and uncalled-for, and I’m ashamed. Sometimes a part of me comes up from deep inside and I have no idea where it came from. Robert and I feel truly blessed that Bettina has found a man like you. We’ll find a way to repay you somehow. So thank you and please forgive me.”
Robert hugged his wife tightly. Bettina hugged Travis tightly too and looked up to him. It was his turn to speak.
“Thank you for saying that, Miss Jolene,” Travis said. “Of course I forgive you. You’re Bettina’s Momma, that’s good enough for me. You all couldn’t have had a daughter as fine as Bettina if you weren’t good parents. I think from time to time, we all say things we wish we hadn’t. And I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
Tears started flowing down Jolene’s cheeks. “Can I give you a hug?” she asked.
Travis and Bettina walked down the steps and Travis stepped into Jolene’s arms. They hugged each other tightly and Travis could feel her big, loose jugs pressing against his chest.
Bettina hugged her parents and Travis shook Robert’s hand. Jolene said they’d like to have them over for dinner sometime.
“Thanks, Mr. Travis!” the boy yelled out of the backseat window as they got back in the car.
“You’re welcome, Nathan!” Travis called.
They watched the car drive off.
“That was not easy for her,” Bettina said. “I can’t remember her ever apologizing to anybody. And I know my family, we’ve always just gotten by. Honestly, I don’t know how they’ll ever pay you back.”
“It’s okay if they mean to pay it back. It probably makes them feel better. But when I gave you the money, it was intended as a gift.”
They went inside and finished making breakfast.
----
Some time later, Travis was picking up his mail at the post office and there was an envelope from his publisher. He opened it to find a fifteen hundred dollar check for his advance. He walked down the street to the bank.
When he entered the bank, he intended to cash it as usual. But while he was waiting in line for the teller he changed his mind. He walked to a fancy-suited bald man at a desk and told him he’d like to open an account. The man asked him to have a seat.
Travis sat down and put the check on the man’s desk and sighed with pleasure. His recent life flashed through his mind. Unexpectedly he had met a woman he loved and trusted, he was no longer impotent, he found a talented editor to champion his work, he’d been published in a national magazine and had a book contract. An amazing chain of events. He decided then and there that after all he’d been through, if he could trust himself, his woman, his editor, his publisher and his cock, then damn it, he could trust this bank.
He had them make him a copy of the check before he deposited it.
----
When the book was released, and a couple days before Travis would have to leave for a number of appearances and book signings, he took Bettina on a day trip to a medium-sized city about two hours away. It was a clear Friday, a day off for Bettina. It was a nice day for a drive, and they packed a picnic basket. Bella rode in the back, protecting lunch.
“Why do we have to drive so far for a picnic?” Bettina asked.
“You’ll see,” Travis said.
Finally, they drove into the outskirts of the town, what appeared to be the trendy suburb, and pulled into the lot of a shopping mall. Travis could have qualified for a handicapped tag, but he had never wanted to. He parked out in the lot like everybody else. Bella waited in the truck. Travis took Bettina’s hand and they walked into the mall. They caught plenty of eyes as they walked hand-in-hand past the many storefronts and shoppers.
They had to walk almost to the other end of the mall to find the bookstore. Walden’s. They walked inside and Travis led them to the shelves of the new releases, right near the front. There were many to choose from. They stood there for almost a minute before Bettina spotted it.
There it was: Travis’s book. The cover was a wavy American flag, charred along the edge and beneath it was a toy soldier broken in half and a gold chain attached to a broken heart. The title was ‘Tunnel of Distrust’. And right below it was Travis’s name. It called itself a novel.
Bettina took a copy off the shelf and looked inside. She scanned the inside jacket describing the story. She had discussed the book with Travis a few times and had read the excerpts, but for the most part didn’t pry. She knew how personal it was for him. She looked at the back flap and saw Travis’s photo. A publicity shot.
“Cute little devil,” she said, pointing at his picture.
“Turn to the dedication page up front,” Travis said.
Bettina did, and read the short sentence: ‘For Bettina, My Love, My Muse and My Light at the end of the tunnel’.
“I love you,” he said, and kissed her as tears dripped on her cheeks. “I’ll be right back.”
He went to locate the manager to introduce himself. He returned shortly with a felt-tipped marker and signed the books on the shelves. Then they went on their picnic.
----
Travis took them to a perfect place for the picnic. A secluded spot he’d first visited as a kid. He drove about a half-hour back toward home and then left the highway and followed a narrow lane for a few miles until it dead-ended by a babbling brook. Travis took the picnic basket out of the truck bed and the three of them set off on foot down a trail that bordered the stream.
After about a quarter-mile, they could hear the rush of water getting louder and found a flat, grassy spot to lay their blanket. They ate hard salami and cheese sandwiches and pickles and fruit and drank cold sweet tea from a thermos. Bella got a sandwich too.
After lunch, they cleaned and packed up and lay back and relaxed on the blanket for a while, looking up at the trees.
“Ready for dessert?” Travis asked.
“What you got in mind?” Bettina laughed. “There’s no dessert in that basket.”
“Let’s go skinny-dipping.”
“Skinny-dipping? You crazy?” Bettina asked, thinking what might happen if some redneck stumbled along and saw a naked white boy and a naked black girl swimming together.
“Come with me,” he said. He took her hand and pulled her up, and led her down the trail.
Barely a hundred feet away was a waterfall where the water tumbled over an edge and fell about ten feet down with a crash into a wide pool of roiling water. Travis started unbuttoning his shirt.
“You sure about this, Travis?” Bettina said nervously. “What if somebody comes along?”
“Don’t have to worry, we have the sentinel. Right, Bella?”
Bella barked her approval.
“Don’t make me rip your clothes off!” he said.
Bettina laughed and unzipped her jeans. They folded their clothes and placed them in a neat pile on the bank. Travis took her hand and they waded in. It was deeper than she expected, up to her neck in the middle.
“It’s cold!” she said.
“You’ll get used to it pretty quick,” he said, then grabbed her and pulled her under.
Travis swam around a little. They played in the water and splashed each other.
“You look so sexy when you’re all wet,” he said, and took her in his arms and kissed her.
“Now you’re getting all amorous on me,” she said, and slipped her hand down around his shriveled penis. “How you gonna get a boner in this freezin’ water?”
“Let me show you something,” Travis said.
He led her to the far side of the falls and up the bank. A couple feet behind the falls, and about halfway up was a ledge, wide enough to sit or lie on. It was level, smooth rock. He climbed up and pulled Bettina up beside him and they sat with their legs dangling over the edge. The water was cascading down right in front of them, all they could see was water, but they were hidden from the world.
Travis put an arm around her and kissed her mouth. Their tongues came alive and their hands drifted to their genitals. He kneaded her swollen nipples between his fingers. His water-withered penis showed signs of life.
“Let’s see what we can do about that boner,” Bettina said, and she repositioned herself, bent her supple body down and took it into her mouth.
His cock rose to the occasion. His fingers were locked in her soaked, coiled hair and his hand rode her head as it yo-yoed up and down. Within a minute his cock was strong and long.
“Good spot for a vertical, don’t you think?” Travis said into Bettina’s ear.
She sat up. “Ooh, that sounds good. But don’t you drop me!”
“If you go, I’m going with you,” he said. “My cock will be like an eight-inch screw drilled into you.”
Travis scooted his butt back a little on the ledge and Bettina pivoted her body around the front of him and straddled him. She stared into his eyes as she guided his cock into her and dropped her weight upon him. He loved the feeling as she mashed her cunt down around him. He put his hands on her hips and she started bouncing up and down, and assisted with her upward-downward motions as she reamed herself on his cock. She squealed as she fucked and grunted as she pounded him with her pussy.
Travis was fucking his lover on a beautiful day behind a wondrous waterfall. Was there a better feeling possible? He was getting close to orgasm when a strange thought popped into his head. This feels so fucking good, he thought. Almost too good. He thought of all the pain and anger and anguish he’d gone through to finally get to this point, and how it had resulted in his first book, a good one.
But how can I write another book when I feel this good? When I’m this happy? How will I ever get pissed-off enough to write another one?
Then he felt his cum rising up from deep within, and with a shudder, he decided to save his worries for another day.
*************************
