Arizona

The inside of the car was silent except for the occasional squeal of guitar from the radio station stretched to the very edge of its range. The inside of my head was ready to burst, though, from the argument raging in the palm of my right hand, typed with furious fingers.

"I told you. I'm already in the car, driving. I have been for hours. You won. Get off my ass" I typed.

I had a moment to massage my aching forehead where the veins were surging before his reply slid up on the tiny screen. "If you're going to be my wife you need to lose the fucking attitude."

I threw the phone into the passenger seat where it bounced against the door, and I slammed the pedal down. It was always "if you're going to be my wife," this and "where I'm from, women..." that, as if the diamond studding my left hand was a tiny collar with a leash.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed, as the highway split and I shot down the wrong side of the divider. A friendly sign stated "Welcome to Kansas." I cursed at it, too, as I looked for a good place to turn around. Traffic was fast, and a lot of truckers had the pedal to the metal as the weekend drew near, trying to get home to their families. My scarlet Firebird darted from lane to lane, seeking an exit, but it was several miles before I finally managed to veer off onto a dirt road, kicking a giant cloud of dust behind me as I sputtered off.

My phone was buzzing again. I fished it out of the floorboard just in time to miss a sixth call from Jeremy. I scrolled briefly through the expletive-laced texts, swerving as I read the culmination "You're pissing me off!" As if I was supposed to be afraid of his irritation. I threw the phone back in the passenger seat as it began to buzz again, and I glared at the road as I barreled down it, burying my car in dust.

I pulled my sunglasses off the shade and shoved them into position, shaking the short, blonde strands out of my face as they suddenly irritated me beyond baring. I took a deep breath and took my foot off the gas. I needed to calm down before I wrecked. Plus, I needed to concentrate on getting back to the highway. Jeremy would wait. Or he wouldn't. At this point I didn't care.

She was walking beside the road, her shirt tied up against the heat and sweat shining on her bronzed skin. Her long, dark red hair was blowing gently in the slight breeze, although the straw cowboy hat was holding it in place. Her plaid shirt was open at the neck and at the cuffs, but she wore long jeans that tapered tightly down to her cowboy boots.

"Oh god. She must be dying of heat stroke." I said aloud, slamming the brakes.

I skidded to a halt some ways past her and buzzed down a window, waiting for her to catch up. The heat rolled into the car, nearly gagging me.

Her skin was frosted with dust, now, as she took off her hat to lean into the car. I could see now that she wasn't as young as I'd assumed, probably a few years older than myself, in her early thirties from the crow's foot laugh lines around her eyes.

"Do you need a ride?" I asked. I wasn't in the habit of picking up hitchhikers, but I hated to leave another woman stranded on such a hot day.

"I can't say I'd mind one, but I've got a long way to go," The woman said.

I glanced down at my phone screen, lit up with yet another call. "I've got time," I said. "Plus, I honestly have no idea how to get back to the highway."

"I saw you have Maine plates. I wondered where you were going."

"Hop in and you tell me."

She opened the door and scooted the still buzzing phone into the cup holder. I glared at it as if Jeramy could see my face through the phone.

"Not someone you want to talk to?" She said, folding her long legs into the car and hanging her hat on her knee.

"Or about," I snapped unfairly.

She overlooked my rudeness with a graceful extension of long, browned fingers. "My name is Lori, by the way. Thanks for the ride. It gets awful hot around here."

"I'm Claire. Sorry for the crabbiness. My fiancé is giving me fits," I said, maneuvering the car back into gear and taking off at a less wild pace.

"That's funny." Lori said dryly, "it's man trouble that has me walking down the road in the midday sun."

She directed me into a turn with a hand signal as I replied. "Oh awesome. Distract me with your troubles," I laughed.

And distract me she did, with a tale of a rowdy redneck who kicked her out on the roadside after an argument.

"I really like the heat. I've always wanted to live in Arizona, where the sky is always blue and my skin always stays brown. Right now, though, I really want nothing more than a hot shower and a cold drink," she concluded as we pulled onto the highway.

I glanced at the car clock. It was 4 pm. I compulsively picked my phone up as yet another text came in: call me right now or it's over.

"Watch your nose." I said, buzzing her window down. We had picked up to highway speed and the wind was refreshing. The phone almost seemed to float for a moment before being snatched into the evening air. I glanced in the rear view mirror to watch it bounce and shatter, before rolling the window up with a sense of freedom and exhilaration.

"Where's a good place to go for shower and drinks? I've got all the time in the whole wide world and not a single place to be."

She cracked a grin at me, her gray eyes shining. "Got tired of it?" She laughed.

"Oh honey. Let me tell you." I sighed.

In the next hour drive I told her all the bullshit Jeramy had tried. I'd been dating him only a year, and it had been the best and the worst year of my life. When we met, he was my boss at the real estate firm. They say never to sleep with your boss, and I guess it's good advice. The power balance was off from the start. He got me promotions and wealthy clients, fancy dates and we picked out a nice house together, but in return he expected to always have his way. If he didn't like my dress, I wasn't to wear it, and if he wanted to have sex, now was the time and there was no room for argument. Then he got his job in California. I was to meet him within the week, drop my whole life, and be there with him. But being away from him was so freeing. There was no reason to go back.

It was dark when we cruised into a city that lit up the whole horizon. "Let's find the most expensive drinks in this town, and have a lot of them," I laughed.

Lori nodded her head, rolling down the window to trail her fingers in the cool evening breeze. "Let's. It sounds like we're both a long way from home. Let's make the best of it."

We found a steakhouse in the heart of a tourist area, with mounted heads of animals along the front wall.

In the parking lot, I rummaged in the trunk for a change of clothes for each of us. I found a spaghetti strap top for Lori and my very shortest dress for me, the one that Jeramy always hated because he said it made me look trashy.

Lori and I strolled out of the ladies room fifteen minutes later, much different than we'd walked in. The top I'd leant Lori was just a little small, revealing just a bit too much of her round breasts. And my black skirt was, indeed, short enough that I stretched my legs out feeling as if I had miles between my hem and my pointed toes, far below.

We spent the evening in a dimly lit corner, drinking drink after drink, from whiskey shots to fruity bartender's specials until the world took on a soft-edged, mellow feel. I watched the light gleaming off of Lori's hair and the way her soft lips were pressed against the salted rim of her martini. As the night went on we moved closer and closer, our stories becoming softer and our laughs more private until we were sitting shoulder to shoulder, our hands touching where we clutched our glasses.

When the restaurant closed I paid our bill with Jeramy's credit card and we slipped out into the midnight, our hands brushing as we walked close together, but not quite clasped. Neither of us was safe to drive, but a hotel next door was within easy walking distance, and they had expensive rooms that Jeramy would foam at the mouth seeing on his bill.

There was no discussion as I rented only one room, but Lori smiled, with those eyes dancing once again.

It was she who took my hand and led me to the room. She slipped the key card into the door and pulled me inside.

"Now for part two. The shower." She said, pulling the tank top off, unabashedly. Her breasts sprang free with a buoyancy of their own, tanned to the nipples, which were soft pink. She let the shirt fall and turned, but I watched every swing of her hips.

I heard the water running, and moments later hot steam began to roll out of the bathroom. I kicked my shoes off, walked to the sink and ran cold water in the basin. I splashed it in my face, then looked in the mirror.

On the outside, I still looked the same. Same brown eyes. Same heart-shaped face and rounded lips. But I didn't feel the same. I felt like a new person.

My eye liner was beginning to run, and I reached on impulse to fix it. To fluff my hair and don my makeup and once again become the scared girl from a year ago who'd walked into a job interview and walked out a pawn. Then my left hand reached out, seemingly of its own accord, and flipped off the light switch.

I heard her go still in the shower. The bathroom tile was cold on my feet. I heard her pull back the shower curtain and felt the soft rain of droplets against my skin. Her hand found mine and she pulled me forward, and I stepped into the shower, letting it soak my dress and not caring a bit. I was timid, my hands shaking a bit, but Lori's hands were steady as she pulled me close, and I felt her warm skin against me, an tasted the citrus sweetness of her lips, soft against mine, her tongue teasing mine. I buried my hands in her long hair and pulled her head down, closer, drinking her in.

Her arms wrapped around my waist, resting for a moment before seeking out the zipper, slipping it down, letting the sopping dress splash to the floor as she traced the curves of my stomach and hips, tracing the patterns of lace on my panties.

We rested for a moment, me leaning my head on her collar bone and her with her mouth pressed to my forehead. Then I turned my face up to kiss her neck, and her hands slipped up to unfasten my bra. Our breasts met, hers full, mine smaller and turned up, and the water slipped over them, rolling off of us in streams. Our hands slid down in tandem, mine to grip her firm ass, stroking over the smooth skin, hers to roll my sodden panties down.

The panties were a resistant bar around my hips, and her tongue was dancing smoothly with mine when she trailed her fingers around to brush gently through my pussy hair. I moaned a little, muffled by her lips on mine, as she parted her fingers and rubbed gently down, around my clit, teasing. I ground my hips against her palm and she pulled me closer, petting softly.

Then my tongue encountered teeth as she bit my lip gently between teeth and tongue.

Then one long, slim finger slipped inside of me, while her thumb began to circle my clit, rubbing slowly and firmly. I threw my head back to moan and she took the opportunity to scrape my throat with her teeth. I clung to her, moaning and grinding against her hand, on the verge of cumming from the tenderness of her touch alone.

Then her hand slipped up from my ass to cup my breast, her thumb circling my rigid nipple. I came in a gush of pleasure, seeing pink spots in the darkness as my own juices dripped down my legs with the water.

I swayed for a moment, shaken, and Lori held me up, cradling me until the waves of pleasure passed.

Then I reached up, combed the wet hair away from her face with my fingers and kissed her fiercely. I could feel her smile in the way her lips met mine.

I stepped out of the shower, towing her behind me, mindless of the soaking trail we left upon the floor.

I kissed her again by the bed, holding her hair and cradling her with my arms as if she might escape, or might be a mirage after all. Then I pushed her onto the bed and followed onto her lap, wriggling out of my soaking panties in the process.

I perched briefly, upright, enjoying the feel of her hips trapped beneath me and the soft fur of her sex teasing at my swollen labia.

Then I leaned forward and kissed her gently, once, twice... And the third was on her chin, the fourth was on her neck, the fifth was on her collar bone, the sixth on her breast, and the seventh was open mouthed, my tongue cupping her nipple, bathing her areola, then pulling it to an even tighter point with my lips while she groaned and arched into me, and my hips rode hers as she bucked.

I brought one hand up to stroke her other breast, teasing it gently, pulling it tenderly while she moaned.

Then I moved down, biting gently where the rib cage gave way to soft stomach, kissing her lower belly, then kissing the mound just above her clitoris.

I took my cue from her teasing, slipping my tongue down on either side of her clit, feeling it spasm with want, feeling her hips rise. I flicked her clit with my tongue tentatively, and she moaned. Then I cupped my tongue and began to stroke it, burying my face in her softness, looking up to watch her body writhing, her breasts undulating as her hips gyrated in time with the strokes of my tongue, her moans transitioning to panting and slowly increasing in volume as her juices ran down my chin.

She was grinding against my face when I wrapped one arm around her ass, pulling her close, and slipped two fingers inside her with my other hand, strumming her clit with my tongue while my fingers worked with her, seeking to make her

Come, which she did hard and fast, holding my face with her thighs and pushing down with her hands entwined in my hair.

I kissed her soft, spasming pussy one last time and crawled up to lay beside her. I buried my face in her damp hair and held her while she panted.

Then, gradually our breathing slowed, as sleep overtook us.

And for tomorrow... There's always Arizona.