Crossroads: the Chance City Series Book Three
Copyright© 2023 by Robin Deeter
Chapter 17
Romantic Sex Story: Chapter 17 - 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
Wheels was relieved to find Ray at home when he arrived at Sundance Ranch. He’d hated lying to his wife, but he didn’t want to answer questions about what he wanted to discuss with Ray.
Ray had been about to leave to see Carly, but he didn’t mind being held up a little when he saw Wheels’ pensive expression.
He helped Wheels into his bunkhouse and offered him a beer.
“I’ll take one,” he said.
Ray handed him a drink and sat down in a chair. “What’s on your mind?”
Figuring that it was best to just get it over with, Wheels forged ahead, explaining the whole situation to Ray, who listened attentively without interrupting. When Wheels finished, Ray didn’t say anything right away. He got up and went to his dresser, fishing around in a drawer. He came back with a piece of thread and tied it around Wheels’ index finger.
Wheels looked at it. “What’s that for?”
Ray just smiled. “I have to admit that I’ve wondered about your ability to perform. It’s a natural thing to be curious about. It’s hard for a guy to admit that he has that sort of problem, so I admire you for talking about it. You came to the right place.
“You lucked into a good woman, Wheels. Don’t waste your time being embarrassed about this. Be grateful that she’s understanding and doesn’t mind dealing with it. It took a lot of courage for her to talk to Wendy. Put yourself in her shoes. What if it had been the other way around and you knew that I’d slept with Nora for a long time? Would you be brave enough to come to me like that?”
Wheels grimaced in distaste, and jealousy over the idea of Nora ever being with another man burned in his chest. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He sighed and cleared his throat. “Yes, I would.”
Ray cocked his head a little. “Why?”
“Because I love her so much that there’s nothing I won’t do for her,” he said, meeting Ray’s eyes.
Ray smiled. “That’s exactly how Nora felt. Wheels, I know what it’s like to not feel worthy of a woman. I still don’t feel like I deserve Carly. You know, I’ve been with so many women that I’ve lost count, but until recently, I didn’t know what it was to really be a man.”
Wheels gave him a dubious look. “How can that be? Like you said, you’ve been with a lot of women. I know guys who are jealous of you, including me in a way. You don’t have any physical problems regarding sex.”
Ray sighed. “Yeah. Sex. Simple, meaningless sex that never touched my heart.” He laughed. “Boy, is that sappy. It’s true, though. You know, I used to tease Johnny a lot because he’s never been with a woman. I thought he was backwards, and I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t find a nice girl and have some fun.
“Turns out that he’s had it right all along. He’s determined to not sleep with a woman until he’s married. He wants to be in love with the woman he makes love with for the first time. He’s a lot stronger than me, a far better man.”
Wheels nodded. “I told him that it was easier to sleep with a woman than to resist that urge. I’m glad that I resisted it with Nora until we were married.”
Ray colored slightly. “You’re a better man than me, too.”
Wheels caught his meaning. “Oh. I see. Well, you know I don’t judge people, so I’m not gonna say anything against you about it. And everyone’s situation is different.”
“Yeah, ours certainly is. Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you have physical problems, Wheels. You’re still a man. A good man. You’re honest and you care about people. You do the right things and you’re a hard worker. Those are the kinds of things that make you a man. I’m finally learning that,” Ray said.
Wheels groaned. “I know all that, it’s just hard to remember it. Most of the time I’m at peace with my life, my condition. What good will it do me to whine? It could be a lot worse. A lot worse. I’ve really tried to live each day to the fullest, to do whatever I was capable of doing. Why can’t I apply that to this subject?”
Ray asked, “Before you knew that Nora had gone to see Wendy, weren’t you doing just that?”
“Yeah.”
“Seems to me like that’s the real issue.”
Wheels’ hands tightened on his chair arms. “It’s one thing for a woman to get general advice about being with a man, but another when she has to ask how to make things happen because he’s defective.”
“I know how you feel,” Ray said.
Wheels snorted in derision. “No, you don’t.”
Ray grinned. “Hold up your finger.”
Wheels did. It was red, swollen, and tingled painfully. “Why did you tie this on there?”
“To demonstrate what I had to do sometimes in order to be able to satisfy a customer.”
Wheels looked back and forth between his finger and Ray. “You mean you tied something around your...?”
“Yep. Everybody thinks having sex three or four times a day is fun. It was when I first started out, but after a couple of years of that, sex was boring most of the time. There were some days when I could barely trick myself into doing it. That’s when doing that came in handy. You can take that off now.”
As Wheels untied the thread, his mind processed the fact that Ray, a former professional, had needed to resort to a trick like that. “We want to have a baby as soon as we can.”
Ray nodded. “Well, that might help a little, just don’t let it on too long. No guarantees or anything, though.”
Wheels grinned as the blood flowed out of his fingertip. “I have enough problems. I don’t need for it to fall off.”
Their laughter was accompanied by a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning.
“I guess that’s my cue to head home,” Wheels said. “Thanks for showing me what a dumbass I’ve been about this, Ray. I appreciate it.”
“I’m happy to help,” Ray said. “You know, it’s nice to have friends who know the truth about me, but don’t think less of me. I haven’t had many real friends over the years. Outside of Sandy and Jim, it’s just been Cotton and Johnny.”
It had to have been hard for Ray to get close to many people, given his former profession, Wheels reasoned. It wasn’t something that you told just anyone. Wheels extended a hand to Ray.
“Consider me a real friend, Ray. If there’s anything I can ever help you with, just let me know. And you should bring Carly and come over for dinner with our family sometime. It’ll be a real education for you. It’s usually pretty hectic,” Wheels said.
Ray shook his hand. “Thanks. I appreciate it and I’ll do that. Carly would get a kick out of the kids. She’s great with them. She spoils Hector’s brother and sisters.”
A closer rumble of thunder rolled overhead.
“Oh, boy. I better shake a leg,” Wheels said.