Crossroads: the Chance City Series Book Three
Copyright© 2023 by Robin Deeter
Chapter 16
Romantic Sex Story: Chapter 16 - Carter “Wheels” Ellis doubts that he’ll ever find a wife since he’s a paraplegic. But Nora Guthrie has strong feelings for him, and they begin a powerful romance. Sparks fly between Mayor Carly Branson and male prostitute Ray Stratton despite their mutual hate. Or is it love? Four people come to important crossroads. Will they find happiness, or take a wrong turn and end up heartbroken?
Caution: This Romantic Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Consensual Heterosexual Fiction Historical Mystery Western
Ollie perched on one side of the table, seeming to look his cards over carefully. His opponent, a grizzled old miner smiled as he watched the monkey’s eyes dart back and forth. Wheels sat closer to Ollie than he used to, making sure that he could protect his buddy better. He’d debated about whether to bring Ollie back to the Chowhound, but he hadn’t wanted Ollie to miss out on a good time.
After another minute, Ollie laid his cards on the table, apparently calling.
Chaz Parker swore good-naturedly when he saw Ollie’s three queens and two aces. “Hellfire!” He laughed and threw his cards down on the table.
Ollie squealed happily and bobbed his head, understanding that he’d won. Wheels and Chaz laughed as Ollie reached his little hands out to the pot, dragging the money towards him.
“I don’t know how he does it,” Chaz said. “It’s the damnedest thing.”
Wheels helped Ollie gather up his winnings, putting them in his wallet. It was getting late, and he wanted to get home to Nora. He still enjoyed going out, but he found that he didn’t have the desire to stay out nearly as much as he used to. If they went to Benny’s, it was a different story, but Wheels didn’t like the idea of Nora coming to the Chowhound since it was a rougher crowd.
Wheels was just putting his wallet away when Ollie let out a screech and jumped onto his lap, his little body trembling. Looking up, Wheels was startled to see Luther standing there. He put his arms protectively around Ollie, his face settling into hard lines.
“What do you want?”
Luther smiled. “Just to say hello.”
“Leave us alone, Luther. I don’t have anything to say to you. You got what you wanted, now get out of my way,” Wheels said.
Luther’s expression turned sarcastic. “In a hurry to get home to that pretty little wife of yours, huh? How come you didn’t bring her tonight?”
“Nora doesn’t like coming here,” Wheels said.
Luther rubbed his chin. “Huh. I didn’t know that. I saw her here a few weeks ago. Of course, not out here. She was in the back.”
Wheels saw red, but he kept his anger in check for Ollie’s sake. “You insult my wife again and I’ll finish the job I started a couple of months ago.”
“I’m not insulting her. She was here. I saw her myself,” Luther said. “I thought she was with you and was just visiting the girls back there.” He gave Wheels a sneer. “Or maybe she was earning a little extra money for the wedding.”
Chaz got up and shoved Luther. “Get out of here or I’ll beat your ass. Move it!”
Luther regained his balance and chuckled, satisfied by the rage in Wheels’ eyes. “Have a pleasant evening, gentlemen.”
“You okay?” Chaz asked Wheels as Luther walked away.
Wheels forced a smile. “Yeah. I’m not gonna let him get to me. Thanks for getting rid of him, though. I really don’t want to end up in jail again. See you later, Chaz.”
The older man nodded and gave Ollie a couple of pats on his head. “See ya, little fella. I’ll get you next time.”
Wheels chuckled and quickly left, his mind mulling over Luther’s words as he made his way home.
The kitchen and parlor were dark when he arrived at their house, but light shone from the bedroom doorway. Ollie leaped off his lap and ran into it. Nora’s laugh rang out, no doubt because he’d pounced on her.
“If you’re home, that means that your daddy is, too. Wheels?”
“Hi, honey,” he said, rolling into their room. “How was your evening?”
Nora smiled and sat her book on her nightstand. “Very nice. My folks came over. Pa isn’t happy with you because you didn’t invite him along tonight.”
Relief that Doug hadn’t been with him flooded Wheels. “Well, we’ll go another night. I’ll have Ollie let him win at poker.”
Although he smiled, it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Are you all right? Did something happen?”
Wheels took his shirt off. “Luther showed up.”
“Oh, no.” She gathered Ollie to her. “He didn’t start anything did he?”
Wheels transferred over to the bed and laid down so he could take off his pants. “He tried to get under my skin, but my buddy Chaz was there and got rid of Luther for me so that I didn’t kill him.”
Nora watched him as she petted Ollie, who was getting sleepy. “I’m glad Chaz was there, but you’re going to have to control yourself around Luther whenever you run into him.”
After draping his pants over his wheelchair, he scooted up in bed, sitting against the headboard. “I know. It’s hard enough when he insults Ollie, but when he insulted you, it was all I could do to not smash his face in.”
Nora’s eyebrows rose. “Insulted me? How?”
Wheels rubbed her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, honey.”
She gave him a stern look. “Carter, tell me what he said. I have a right to know.”
Her tone meant that she wasn’t going to give up. “He said some nonsense about seeing you at the Chowhound before our wedding. He said that he saw you in the back. He must have gone to see one of Sandy’s girls. Poor Mrs. Kingsley.”
Nora’s cheeks burned, and she couldn’t speak for a few moments. “Yes. It’s terrible that he’s cheating on her. Shame on him.”
Wheels noticed the tinge of pink in her cheeks and the way she didn’t quite meet his eyes. She also hadn’t denied Luther’s accusation that she’d been at the Chowhound.
“Nora, was Luther right? Did he see you at the Chowhound?”
Nora closed her eyes and gnawed on her lip as she nodded. She hadn’t wanted Wheels to ever find out about her visit to Wendy, but there would be no hiding it now. Damn Luther’s hide!
Wheels tamped down his annoyance, rejecting Luther’s insinuation that Nora had been there to entertain a man. Nora was a woman of principle and she’d never be unfaithful to him.
“Why were you there?”
Nora forced herself to meet his gaze. As uncomfortable as this was, she would never lie to her husband. She put a hand on his arm. “Please don’t be angry. I did it for us.”
“Did what?” His heart jumped in alarm.
“I went to see Wendy.”
His brow furrowed. “Wendy? Why would you do that?”
Nora’s blush deepened. “I needed some advice that I couldn’t get anywhere else.”
Understanding dawned on Wheels. Embarrassment mingled with anger, making his jaw clench. “You went there to talk about me, my ... issues, didn’t you?”
Nora nodded, petting Ollie to soothe her nerves. “Please try to understand, Wheels. It was so important to me that I pleased you. Ma told me about sex but hearing about it and doing it are two different things. I couldn’t talk to her about that, though, and I had no one else, either. I knew that Wendy would have the answers I needed.”
Never had Wheels imagined that Nora would do such a thing. He tried to see the situation from her side, but he felt humiliated. It was a sensitive subject for him to begin with and knowing that she’d been discussing it with the woman he’d slept with for so long made it even worse.
“I see.”
His wooden response and the hurt in his eyes made Nora’s heart sink.
“I did it because I love you and I—”