Erotica

Chapter 3: Tempting Fire

Chapter 3: Tempting Fire

Alice had insisted on arriving for the big day early—hours early. And as they wandered around, Alice filled her in on all that she'd missed over the past three years. Of course, given that they'd talked or emailed at least a few times each week the entire time, Julia already had a pretty good idea of each and every tidbit of information her friend had to share. Which meant the majority of her attention was free to wander around the growing crowd of people; children hyped up on sweet treats, teenagers gathering in cliques, young men and women flirting, parents and grandparents carrying on conversations while surreptitiously keeping an eye on their youngsters. She loved watching the myriad of social interactions.

Then she saw him. Ethan had already spotted her and he stood still, about ten yards away, his eyes seemingly fixed directly on her. She should have been expecting to see him today; he'd ridden the circuit often enough when she was a teenager. He'd stopped competing her final year of high school and she'd assumed that he was done with the rodeo. But, somehow she just knew that he was there as a competitor and the thought of him being thrown from some bucking beast made her nauseous.

Realizing Alice had paused, Julia tried to feign nonchalance, hoping her friend wouldn't notice where her attention had been drawn. No such luck. Alice spotted Ethan immediately.

“Hey, isn't that your dad's wrangler? I didn't know he was competing this year. Did you?” she queried.

“I had no idea...Dad didn't say a word...” Julia stumbled through a reply.

She cringed as Alice grasped her hand and started pulling her in his direction. It wasn't until they were nearly upon him that the man standing next to Ethan turned and she recognized Michael easily.

“Great. Let me guess. They're best buds, right?” Julia queried dryly to herself.

“Oh,” Alice started happily. “Look at that. One for you and one for me. You used to have the hots for your dad's cowboy, right? I get the other one then,” she whispered with a conspiratorial grin, not waiting for Julia's response.

And then they were there, standing directly in front of Ethan and Michael. After the window incident, Julia couldn't force herself to meet Ethan's gaze. She'd convinced herself last night that he wouldn't have had a chance to see what she'd been doing, but it seemed too much to put her assurance to the test today. She peered up at Ethan, finding her tongue to make the introductions, and she gasped almost imperceptibly, finding his eyes ablaze with desire.

Avoiding eye contact, she stumbled awkwardly through the introductions. “Hi Ethan. Michael,” she nodded to each of them. “This is my best friend Alice. Alice, this is Ethan Jensen and Michael...” Julia trailed off, realizing she didn't know Michael's last name.

“It's good to see you again, Julia” Michael replied in the same seductive voice he'd used on her the evening prior.

“And it's nice to meet you, Alice,” Ethan spoke politely, though Julia was somehow certain she could feel his eyes on her.

“So, you're competing?” Julia tried to infuse her query with enthusiasm, but it fell short.

“Don't worry, Jules. I wouldn't leave your dad without his best wrangler.” He smiled then, obviously amused by her concern.

Alice spoke up before Julia could reply. “What do you say you boys join us for the fireworks show later?” she inquired brightly.

Ethan hesitated briefly, but Michael was quick to fill the silence. “Sounds great. We'll catch up with you after the events.”

“You're better at roping than I thought,” Alice teased once they were out of earshot.

“You've got to be kidding. Ethan thinks of me like a baby sister. That's all,” Julia insisted.

“Oh, I'm fairly certain he doesn't look at his sister the way he was looking at you. Then again, that other one was looking at you the same way, so maybe I'm just getting my signals wrong.”

Alice was silent for a moment—an unusual occurrence in Julia's experience. And then, “Darn it! I guess that means I've still got some roping to do,” she smiled, feigning frustration.

“Trust me, Alice. You've definitely got it wrong with Ethan.”

They'd reached their seating section in the stadium by then. “We'll see,” Alice replied simply, and then she turned her attention to locating their seats.

Julia tried to relax and enjoy the events, but she found herself increasingly anxious over Ethan's competition. She'd been so worried, realizing that he was competing, that she didn't have the nerve to ask exactly which event he was competing in. But she knew; bull riding. It's what he'd always done and she couldn't imagine him making a change now.

She'd seen the way he worked with the wild, unruly stock of animals her father had purchased. It was where he thrived; the look on his face as he worked patiently, endlessly with the same stubborn horse. Julia had watched plenty of wranglers and ranch hands get fed up, and sometimes just downright angry, with an unruly animal. But she could recall countless times as a teenager she'd hid nearby the training pen and watched Ethan. He never lost his patience and he never gave up. It was one of his qualities that she'd admired most. Heck, she wouldn't be surprised if he could lull the bull into submission in the stadium—though that obviously wasn't the point of the event.

The rest of the competitions went by in a blur, though she managed to focus briefly in the middle of the steer wrestling competition as Alice set her sights on a particularly handsome cowboy and elicited Julia's assistance in cheering over top of the rest of the crowd.

She waited with baited breath as the bull-riding event got underway, and she was quite certain that Ethan's eight seconds had to be the longest, most tortuous eight seconds ever. But he moved perfectly, staying atop his bucking bull beyond the mandatory time and dismounting almost gracefully as the rodeo clowns moved in to distract the riled up animal.

And Julia's assessment of his ride had been correct, the judges later coming back with a score of 96 points—a score she'd never personally seen equaled by another rider. But seconds later, “Where are we going in such a rush?” Julia inquired as Alice grabbed her hand, yanking her from her seat and pulling her along toward the exit.

“Don't you think a few congratulations are in order? You do want to congratulate your cowboy, don't you?” she probed suggestively.

“He's not my cowboy Alice. Besides, I don't think he'll be heading out of the stadium any time soon,” Julia responded matter-of-factly.

“Well, maybe not. But, I saw my ride for the day heading out just a minute ago.” Alice confessed, and Julia smiled, remembering her enthusiasm over the steer wrestler and knowing her friend was never the type to let a good opportunity—or a good ride—get away.

She let Alice pull her along, finding her cowboy of interest in about two minutes. Alice didn't hesitate. As soon as she'd spotted him, she headed straight for him, introducing herself and Julia easily. He was pleasant enough and the perfect choice for Alice; a wrangler from a few cities away who would be heading back home tomorrow. His initial interest in Julia was blatantly obvious until he realized by her deliberately reserved character that he was barking up the wrong tree. It didn't hurt that Alice happened to mention her enthusiasm over “Julia's cowboy's” bull-riding win. He was happy then to focus all his attention on Alice, ensuring he'd have an enthusiastic partner that night. Julia followed the pair around, chiming in with an occasional comment to lend her support to Alice. But finally evening approached.

They met up with Ethan and Michael, Julia swinging her arms around Ethan's neck in a congratulatory hug as he approached from the stadium. “Wow! Big mistake,” Julia thought to herself, pulling away quickly. His body seemed to set hers ablaze everywhere she came in contact with him. The two were silent for a moment as Julia tried to recompose herself quickly. Michael chuckled, likely recognizing her reaction but she started off, leading the group toward the fairgrounds before he could make a comment.

Her aching feet were grateful when she finally reached an empty space of grass on the field, sliding down to the ground as gracefully as she could. She kicked off her shoes and settled on the grass, willing to sacrifice the cleanly state of her favorite dress to avoid one more moment on her feet. Leaning back on her elbows and wiggling her now-free toes, she closed her eyes and sighed in relief. Neither Ethan nor Michael had moved a muscle, watching her reclined figure, her slender thighs peeking out from the hem of her dress as she descended to the ground; her breasts pressed against the constraining fabric of her bodice as she leaned back.

Julia opened her eyes to find the two men staring at her intently. Ethan's jaw was clenched and he diverted his gaze elsewhere. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd piqued his interest or perhaps she'd just imagined the look in his eyes. She turned her attention to Alice, who winked at her conspiratorially before turning her attention elsewhere.

Michael took a seat to Julia's left, sidling close to her shamelessly. Ethan hesitated for a moment, his hands clenched in fists as she'd seen them the previous evening. As he moved to sprawl out on the ground next to Michael, Alice caught his hand.

“Come sit over here so you can tell me all about how you managed to get so good at riding,” she insisted

Alice sat down next to her steer wrestler, leaving a gap between herself and Julia just large enough for Ethan's well-muscled frame. His knuckles turned white as he took a seat between the women, moving so carefully that he avoided making contact with Julia entirely. He had never been this uncomfortable around her before—at least not that she could remember. But as the group began chatting quietly, his tension seemed to subside, joining in the conversation easily after a moment.

Everyone quieted as the fireworks show began, but Julia remained painfully aware of the men on either side of her; one who she was quite sure wanted her naked and willing beneath him, and the other who seemed he would rather be as far from her as possible. She tried to focus her attention elsewhere, taking in the sensational palette of colors exploding and raining down from the sky. But, it wasn't nearly as fascinating as the responses of the people surrounding her; old men and children alike clapping heartily in response to every loud boom, the crowd-wide murmur of “oohs and aahs” in response to the most impressive explosions. By the time the show was finished, Julia figured she'd probably spent more time watching the crowd than the fireworks; it was always a more interesting show to her anyways.

The small group's conversation resumed as the crowd around them began to disperse. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Michael sprawled out on his side next to Julia, leaning on his elbow as he recounted some of his top rodeo stories—epic wins, big losses, and even the time he and Ethan locked themselves out of their rig.

“Of course, we were already behind schedule. It took us so long to get the damn door open that there was no point in making the trip—missed the whole, damn event,” he laughed, and everyone in the group joined in.

Alice stood after the laughter had died down, pulling her steer wrestler to his feet. Julia looked up at her inquisitively.

“I think we're hoping to head out for the night,” Alice answered Julia's unspoken question as she smiled wickedly. “You boys don't mind taking Julia, do you?”

While Alice was eliciting a ride home for her friend, the double innuendo of the statement was painfully obvious. Even knowing Alice, Julia couldn't believe her friend's brashness. She stared up at her wordlessly, but Alice's comment had changed the atmosphere, seemingly charging it with s****l energy. Julia could suddenly feel the body heat radiating from the men beside her, and her own body began to tingle erotically in response.

“I certainly don't mind taking her,” Michael's husky response and sexy grin made Julia think he wasn't joking. And when he moved his hand to her thigh she was quite certain he was absolutely serious. Her breath caught and she turned to look at him

“Do you mind taking her?” he turned to Ethan, goading him.

Ethan didn't respond but Alice's smile widened before she turned away, walking back toward the parking lot with her steer wrestler. Julia fought to ignore her body's response to Michael's touch, struggling to remember the conversation that had been taking place before Alice's swift retreat. But just then, his hand began to move, sliding higher on her thigh ever so slowly, and pulling the hem of her dress with him as he glided along. Julia moaned quietly.

She heard Ethan's groan from the other side of her, and she turned her head quickly to find him getting to his feet. He stared at her for a moment, though the dimly lit surroundings made it impossible for her to discern the expression on his face. He turned abruptly and began moving quickly in the direction Alice had left just a moment before.