Chapter 41

We were still talking to Susan when I heard the door open and Chris’s voice.

“She wanted to show this to you,” he said. “Hey, Travis. Hey, Liz.”

“Hey,” we said in unison. Susan handed him the phone while she inspected Amber’s handiwork. I heard her say that it was beautiful.

“Do you want to say hello to your new niece?” Chris asked.

“Of course,” I said.

“Hey, Sweetie, your Uncle Travis and Aunt Liz want to say hi,” I heard him say.

“Hewo, Uncle Twavis and Aunt Wiz,” I heard a little voice said. I was smiling too broadly to answer so Liz handled it.

“Hello, Sweetheart!” she said. “What did you draw?”

“A wainbow,” Amber answered.

“Wow!” Liz said. “That sounds pretty.”

“They’we my favewits,” Amber said.

“I like them, too!” Liz said. “I can’t wait to meet you.”

“OK,” Amber said. “I’ll dwaw you a wainbow.”

“Wonderful,” Liz said.

“I’ll huwie so you can see it,” Amber declared.

“Oh, Sweetie, you’ll have to wait to see them,” Chris said. “They’re very far away right now.”

“OK,” Amber said. “I’ll still dwaw you a pitcher.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Liz said.

“I sent Travis a picture of the picture,” Chris said. “She is a very talented young lady.”

My phone buzzed and I pulled the attachment up.

“She really is!” I said.

“We’re going to go draw some more,” Chris said. “Hurry home, guys.”

“We’ll see you Monday,” I said.

“I thought you had to be in Phoenix,” Chris answered.

“Phoenix will still be there Tuesday,” Liz told him. “I hear you’re putting together a room and could use some help. We’ll be there.”

“Thanks, guys,” Chris said. “That’s ... really nice. Matt’s taking the day off and Eric and Rick are coming out, too. I’m going down first thing in the morning to rent a truck. None of us have anything like that.”

“I’ll call Brian and have him come over,” Liz said. “He rented a big four-by-four for the weekend.”

“He doesn’t have to drive back from Phoenix,” Susan cut in.

“He’s at my house,” I said.

“We’ll have to rent a vehicle anyway,” Liz added. “We can get an SUV with hauling space.”

“If you’re sure,” Chris said.

“We’re sure,” I said.

“Did you say Brian is at your house?” Chris asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “He and Jill drove down from Los Angeles to see the sights. They’re crashing at my place for the weekend since I’m here. We’re still a little worried that people might figure out I really live there and show up unannounced.”

“I wondered about that,” Chris said. “I ... I pulled some strings and got one of our drone pilots to do random passes to see if any strange cars have shown up. I’m glad you told me about Brian being there. I would have been worried when I got to the report. I was going to wait until later to look at them.”

“You didn’t have to do that!” Liz said. “But, thank you!”

“It’s part of their routine training,” Chris said. “They don’t know who lives there. They do urban counter-insurgency training like this all the time. I figure a stranger in your neighborhood would count as an insurgent. They’re not taking photos or filming it. It’s just visual inspection only. They’re tasked with identifying the cars that appear to live there and to document any that don’t belong. They know the house opposite is vacant. That’s the designated hot spot. The guys don’t mind. I told them there are some nice-looking women that like to sunbathe.”

“One day, Mister, I’m going to convince you to tell me what you really do,” Liz said.

“I’m a civilian consultant to the Department of Defense,” Chris answered as if by rote.

“We’ll let you get back to the little one,” I said. “We’ll see you bright and early Monday.”

“I’ll believe the early part,” Susan said. “But bright might be a bit of a stretch for you.”

We ended the call and sat back with my arm around Liz’s shoulders and her head on my chest.

“OK, six months out there,” she said. “Two months travelling and four months here.”

I chuckled.

“I’m serious,” Liz said, shifting and sitting up. “Ben and I were talking while you and Kim were gushing over each other.”

“I wasn’t,” I protested. Liz grinned and poked me in the ribs.

“I know,” she said. “I just like to give you crap when I can. You didn’t even check out her rack. I think she was offended.”

I rolled my eyes and Liz turned my face and kissed me firmly with a lot of tongue thrown in.

She pulled away abruptly.

“Positive reinforcement,” she said. “You’ll be rewarded when you act properly.”

“Wow,” I said. “I’ll be sure to make a note.”

“Oh, it’s just starting,” Liz said. “Now, let me finish.”

“Yes, Dear,” I said.

Liz gave me another kiss, softer this time, as she climbed onto my lap.

“He and I were talking,” Liz said. “He’s in the same boat. Kim works out of Los Angeles. Her show got canceled but if she gets a new one she’s going to have to be out there for three or four months at a time. So, he goes out there and stays. It’s different than what Brandon and Melissa do. She’s based here; he’s based in L.A. because of the TV show he does. They make it work but they don’t see each other more than a month or two every year. That means there are always tabloid rumors about an impending divorce or cheating. You never see that about Ben and Kim. He’s just as famous as Brandon. She’s not as big as Melissa but most people know her work. You never hear that they’re divorcing or fighting or living separate lives. Kenneth and Nina are the same way. They have their own interests but they make it a point to be together. If she’s on a set, he visits with her. If he’s on tour, she comes with him. That’s what we are going to do.

“We’ll live both places. We’ll have our life in San Diego. I can write there. I wrote one song and finished two others while I was there for five days! I’ll have to be back here to record and to handle some aspects of the tour but I don’t have to be here nine months a year and on the road for two more. We’ll do exactly what Ben and Kim do!”

“I’m not famous,” I noted. “And I’m not tied to a particular location.”

“Yes, you are,” Liz countered. “You’re tied to San Diego through bonds that are a lot stronger than mine here. You have a second family out there. I can probably even find a way to make things work by just coming back here on weekends.”

I captured her face and drew her in for a fresh kiss.

“We’ll work it out,” I said. “We’ll be where we need to be when we need to be there. If you need to be here, I’ll be here with you. If I need to be out there, you’ll be right beside me. You proved that a few minutes ago. We’re going to be just fine ... together.”

Liz pressed herself tightly against me again and started to nibble on my neck.

“We need to go upstairs or we’re going to have to explain some serious stainage on the furniture tomorrow,” she said.

I stood and lifted Liz along with me. It was a feat aided greatly by the consumption of moonshine. Liz was not a small woman. She was five-feet-ten in her stocking feet and she weighed between 130 and 135 pounds. Her bust was a 36B with a 26-inch waist and 34-inch hips (according to a website, at least). She wore a size four in dresses and jeans and a ladies size nine shoe (these facts I knew for certain because she had given me a small fashion show before we left the house that afternoon).

From personal experience, I also knew she looked great in her jeans and dresses (not to mention in and out of the size two low-cut cotton hipster panties she preferred – I had been informed that they were not, in fact, bikini cut as I had mistakenly thought).

Suffice it to say that a man standing while holding her was not a common occurrence.

“Put me down, you goof,” Liz giggled.

“I thought I might carry Milady to her boudoir where I might ravish her properly,” I said.

“More like drop me on the staircase and split my head wide open,” Liz said. “Seriously, I can feel your arm shaking. I’m not worried that you’ll drop me but I am scared your arm might fall off.”

I lowered her to the ground and she kissed me while rubbing my trembling arm.

“Another reason to get that fixed,” she said. “I’ll have to come up with some way to treat you on the day you can finally carry me up the stairs to bed.”

“You are tempting enough,” I said. “Once things settle down, I’ll look into it. I’m serious, though. It’s going to be four to six months of my arm in a cast.”

“That means I get to be on top for half a year!” Liz said before leaning forward and catching my bottom lip between her teeth. She took my hand and led me up the stairs, swinging her hips in an exaggerated fashion. My arm still ached but I managed to grab a handful of butt before we reached the top of the circular staircase.

Liz gave me a saucy grin over her shoulder so I repeated the effort on the opposite cheek.

When we got to the bedroom, she turned and kissed me, backing me into the room and pushing me down on her enormous bed. I tried to tug her down with me but she pulled away.

“Let’s get you undressed,” she said as she was already reaching for the button of my jeans. I slid my sneakers off while Liz tugged my pants and boxers down. I had already started to unbutton my shirt and it was off by the time Liz freed my legs.

“Your turn,” I said.

“I promise I will join you in a minute,” she said. “Right now, I want you to lay there and think of all the sexy fun we’re going to have tonight. Oh, look, I guess you already are!”

She gave my already hard dick a gentle caress before slipping into her bathroom. She gave me a golden smile. I could see her silhouetted in the light from the bathroom before the door closed.

I made myself comfortable, not a difficult feat because the bed was like sleeping on a cloud. I heard water running in the bathroom for a very long time and I started to wonder if Liz was showering. Then I figured that she might be washing her hair. Our hosts had a wood fire burning in their basement because the warm weather had not managed to increase the temperature much down there. I smelled my skin and it didn’t seem too bad. The smell reminded of the mesquite chips we used on the grill when we barbequed.

I felt my erection start to flag so I tried to do as Liz had ordered (after all, there was no downside that I could see). I was replaying the many sexual highlights of my time with Liz in my head when the water shut off. A second later, the door opened and Liz stood in the doorway, still backlit by the glow given off by her vanity.

She put an arm on the doorframe and gave me a brilliant smile. I managed to look at her face for perhaps a nanosecond before I took in the rest of her form.

She was topless and her beautiful breasts stood out proudly before sloping downward to a trim, tanned stomach. She wore a pair of sheer panties that were so translucent I could see her blondish-brown pubic hair rising from the cleft of her puffy lower lips. Her long, toned legs ended in a pair of white high heels.

Liz let me take in her beauty and catalog her flawless form before starting across the floor to the bed.

“That is the reaction I like to get from my man,” she said in a sultry voice. I realized it had been several seconds since I’d remembered to breathe and I rectified that with a quick gulp of air. The smile Liz wore grew even brighter.

She reached the end of the bed and crawled up on her hands and knees. Her kisses started at my ankle and continued up my calf to my knee before she switched the opposite leg and worked her way downward again. I could only watch in fascination as her breasts swayed as she moved forward and backward.

“Last week, you gave me a night that I will never forget,” she said. “Tonight it’s your turn.”

“I’ll never forget the sight of you when you walked out of the bathroom,” I stammered.

“Good,” she said. “That’s just the start of what I have planned for you.”

Liz began alternating kisses on my thighs, spreading my legs until she could lie on her stomach between them. She worked her way upward until she reached my dick, which was now throbbing from just the visual stimulation.

She lifted it upward slightly and ran her tongue over the stalk until she could circle it around the head. She moved to the opposite side and gave me a series of short licks before repeating the circling motion when she reached the tip. I reached forward to run my fingers through her blonde hair but she captured my hand and slipped each of my fingers into her mouth one at a time, running her tongue over the skin and then kissing my palm softly. Then she reached for my other hand and did the same thing.

My entire body was rigid in anticipation but Liz decided more tormenting was order. She spent what felt like hours licking and nibbling on my dick. Her touch was soft and her kisses gentle. Every so often, her tongue would make its way to the end where she would remove any of the fluid that her actions had produced. Once, she captured the clear liquid on her fingertip and played with it, stretching it from her tongue before licking her finger clean.

Her head dipped lower and she fluttered the tip of her tongue against my sac, which both tickled and titillated me, before drawing one of my balls between her lips and sucking on it.

She put a hand beneath my balls and hefted them up slightly, planting butterfly soft kisses on the skin. She kept her hand on my sac when she moved back to my erection.

“I used to think balls were really gross,” she said. “Now, I could lick yours all night. But I think you might prefer it if I worked on this guy.”

The hand that had been holding my dick off my stomach began a slow upward motion, lifting the skin with it and bringing more of my precum out. This time, Liz’s tongue stayed on the sensitive head and danced all around it.