Encounters with John Wayne Ch. 31

After that, she became so engrossed in his characterization of Ethan that she started to think of Ethan as a real person—Wayne played him so convincingly that she continued to alternately cry at his displays of pain and tortured anger, gasp at his outright displays of cruelty and laugh at his twisted sense of humor. This was one of the first movies she'd ever seen his character deliberately shoot men in the back, and he even made Ethan look smug about doing it.

When they finally found the teenaged Debbie as one of Scars squaws 5 years after she was taken, and Debbie came to them to tell them to leave because the Comanche were now her people, Ethan would have killed her on the spot if Martin hadn't stopped him. Scar and some of the Comanches had followed Debbie and then attacked Ethan and Martin; Ethan was struck by a poisoned arrow and he and Martin narrowly escaped the attack.

She had believed, as Martin had in the movie, that Ethan planned to kill Debbie all along if he ever found her. She had started to think what a tortured soul Ethan must have had to search that many years for his niece, who might possibly have been his daughter, only to feel he had to kill her when he found her. She was relieved to start seeing some signs that Ethan was more human than evil—like when he let go of his disdain for Martin by writing a will and making Martin his sole heir when he thought he might die from the poisoned arrow wound.

He was shirtless in that scene, but had a sling covering most of his chest and abdomen, and she couldn't stop herself from moaning softly and breathing a little harder at seeing his broad shoulders and strong arms again. She also noticed that the way he was sitting made the crotch of his pants bulge slightly over his cock, and she had to stop herself from groaning aloud as she instantly pictured him naked. Her hand holding Wayne's started to shake slightly and he glanced over at her and saw her staring at him on the screen with desire smoldering in her eyes and he realized that she still wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

The next scene had a few more humorous moments when Ethan and Martin arrived at the Jorgensen's ranch again just as Laurie Jorgensen, the girl that Martin was in love with, was about to marry a slow-witted character named Charlie McCorrie. Naturally, Martin and Charlie ended up in a fight over Laurie, which Laurie vainly tried to get Ethan to stop, and he just looked at her and said totally deadpan, "Why? You started it!" which totally cracked Diana up. She chuckled again when Ethan caught Mrs. Jorgensen watching the fight with interest and he shoved her back into the house and told her to remember she's a lady. The party was broken up when Wayne's son Patrick, as a young cavalry officer, showed up and told them his father's regiment had news that Scar was camped somewhere nearby and that they'd found an escaped captive—it was old Mose and he told them where to find Scar's camp.

When she watched the scene where they raided Scar's camp and Martin attempted to rescue Debbie so she wouldn't be killed, she was shocked again when Ethan found Scar's dead body and scalped him. But when he finally chased Debbie down when she ran in fear from him because she saw him with Scar's scalp, and then he picked her up like he was going to throw her down again, but instead, cradled her in his arms and said gently, "Let's go home, Debbie," she started crying softly.

She barked a laugh through her tears at the next scene where Ward, alias Rev. Clayton, was being treated for a wound on his ass most likely inflicted by Patrick's cavalry saber after Rev. Clayton had warned him several times to "watch that knife, boy!" By the final scene, when Ethan brought Debbie home to the Jorgensens and Martin was reunited with his true love Laurie, and everyone went into the house leaving Ethan standing on the porch at the door looking utterly alone, and then he turned and walked away dejectedly as the door closed on him, Diana was sobbing softly.

She had glanced at Wayne every so often when she would notice he was watching her during certain scenes; she knew every emotion he was evoking from her showed on her face, and she could see that he was deeply touched to know that she had understood and appreciated his portrayal of this character. When the closing credits started, she looked at him and said through her tears, "I told you so!"

Wayne lifted her right hand with his left one that she had been holding onto through most of the movie and kissed the backs of her fingers softly, then pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. While she dabbed at her face to dry her tears as she stopped crying, he asked her quietly, "Did you notice anything else unusual about this movie?" When she frowned questioningly at him, he said softly, "Other than the subtle undertones between Ethan and Martha, I had no love scenes." He saw her eyes go wide as she realized this.

Then she smiled softly and said, "I knew there was another reason why this would probably be my most favorite of your movies!" Then she looked serious again and said, "You were superb—I totally believed you were Ethan—I think I know how you were able to portray his pain and anger with such realism. I guess I gave you something to draw on, huh?" He nodded his head solemnly as he looked at her with sad longing again.

She had noticed before he turned to walk away at the end of the movie that he'd made a gesture with his left hand grasping his right arm, and that she couldn't see his face well enough to read any emotion on it and she wondered why they left his face so obscured, so she asked him about those things. He replied that the hand gesture was a tribute to a good friend of his who died years back, Harry Carey—because his wife and son were also in the movie. And the reason they didn't show his facial expression at the end is because the director wanted the audience to make up their own minds about whether Ethan was upset or ambivalent about everyone just seemingly turning their backs on him.

By this time, the music and credits ended and the lights came up and everyone started clapping, so the cast members, the director and other production people stood up to acknowledge the applause. She stayed seated while Wayne and Ward stood up and looked around and waved at the audience, and she applauded as loudly as she could with everyone else, just staring up at him with deep admiration and love. He looked down at her and smiled softly, both of them realizing that they no longer felt the stinging pain of separation, but their passion and desire still lurked beneath their deep love and silent longing.

During the reception afterward, they mostly mingled separately; some of the people that she had been talking to before the movie when he had joined their group, asked her if she had enjoyed the movie and if she thought Mr. Wayne had redeemed himself. She laughingly told them that she did not offend Mr. Wayne, and that she, in fact, thought it was his finest performance ever and that he had most definitely redeemed himself. Several of them remarked that they thought so, too, and that they thought it was an Oscar-caliber performance, and she readily agreed.

At one point, Wayne introduced her to the director, John Ford, and told her to tell Ford the things she had noticed while watching the movie, so she started to; then Ford looked at Wayne and said, "You bastard! You told her what to look for, didn't you?" Wayne denied that, saying she'd asked him questions when she would pick up on something and some of them he couldn't answer because he hadn't noticed it himself.

Ford asked her what she'd asked Wayne that he didn't know the answer to, so she told Ford she wondered about Debbie being Ethan's daughter instead of his niece, and asked him why Ethan had allowed Brad Jorgensen to go after the Indians by himself knowing he would be killed—was it out of meanness or mercy to Brad? Then she mentioned the fact that Ethan had foreshadowed that event when he'd said, "Long as you live, don't ever ask me more!" And she asked Ford if maybe Ethan let it happen out of mercy for himself?

Ford looked at Wayne and said, "Damn, Duke, this girl's smart. How the hell did you meet her? She's way out of your league!" Then he looked at Diana and asked, "Have you ever thought about going into directing or writing, little girl? Those were some top-notch questions—as a matter of fact, I had the idea in mind to see if anyone would pick up on Ethan and Martha's interaction and if it would make them wonder if Ethan had fathered any of Martha's children. And as for Ethan letting Brad Jorgensen get killed, well, I hadn't really thought about whether it might've been out of meanness or mercy for Brad, but Ethan's line was definitely meant as a foreshadow of the event and that maybe he was trying to spare his own pain."

Ford and Diana started to get into a deeper discussion of the movie, until someone telling Ford that some studio executives were summoning him interrupted them. Ford wasn't happy about that, and before he left her to go talk to the studio bigwigs, he told Diana that if she was ever interested in getting into directing or writing, to give him a call and he'd have her come work for him any time. After Ford walked away, Wayne looked at Diana and said, "I've never seen anyone impress that man as quickly as you just did. He's right, you know...you're way out of my league. You deserve so much more... Excuse me, but now I'm being summoned." He smiled sadly at her and turned to walk toward his son Patrick, who was gesturing at him.

Wayne was a little surprised when he got to Patrick and his son asked him who the pretty lady that he'd been hanging around with was and why she'd sat with him during the movie. Wayne thought quickly and told him she was a studio executive's girlfriend and was a big fan of his, and he was making the executive happy by paying special attention to her since the executive couldn't be here this evening and since Pilar was unable to be here. He had to chuckle slightly when Patrick said, "Oh. Well, I'd be happy to take over for you if you get tired of her...she's real pretty." Wayne told his son that he had excellent taste in women, and it made Patrick happy when he told him that she had said she thought Patrick was a very handsome young man.

Toward the end of the reception, Diana headed down the hallway to the ladies' room for a few minutes, and when she came out and was walking back toward the main lobby, passing by a row of curtains hanging in front of a concession area that was covered up for the reception, a hand reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her through the curtains. She gasped and almost screamed until she realized it was Wayne, as he pulled her against him, hugging her tightly.

Then he said quietly, "I'm sorry if I frightened you, little girl. But I couldn't let you go tonight without at least feeling you in my arms once more. I've missed you so, and I wanted to tell you that I still dream about you almost every night."

"Me too, big man, me too," she said softly as she sighed heavily, laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso, noting that there was, indeed, more of him to wrap her arms around. Then she added with a soft laugh, "Your wife must be a good cook... there's a bit more of you to get my arms around than I remember!" He laughed shortly and admitted that she was. Then she took a deep breath and held it, and her voice cracked as she asked, "Are you happy?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled raggedly, and said hoarsely, "Yes, most of the time I am very content—and I know some happier times are coming...because of the baby. Pilar is a wonderful, gentle salve for my wounds—she is a very loving wife and I never want to do anything to hurt her. The only thing that probably would is if she ever finds out that there is another woman I also love who haunts my dreams—I live in fear of that happening almost every night. Ironic, isn't it? I lost you because I feared losing control of my emotions, and now I live in fear of losing someone else because of emotions and dreams I CAN'T control!"

Diana had slowly exhaled while he answered her, and she tightened her arms around him as she heard the pain in his voice, and she tried to ease his pain by making a joke, "I have an idea...why don't you start snoring so loudly when you sleep that your wife has no choice but to ask you to go sleep in another room. That way, when you dream, she won't be around to hear it if you say anything!" She was surprised when he laughed softly and jokingly agreed that it was a good idea.

Then he got serious again and asked her quietly, "What about you, little girl. Are you happy... even though you haven't been able to find a man that measures up to me to love? You didn't think I was just going to let that conversation drop did you?" He backed away from her slightly so he could see her face in the dim light behind the curtains.

She was frowning slightly as she admitted that, until he'd said that, she hadn't realized it was what she'd been doing. But, she told him, she hadn't been comparing them to him in ways that always made the other men pale in comparison to him; she always took their good qualities into account and she knew he wasn't perfect. But, she continued, she just knew there had to be another man out there, somewhere, who could stir her soul in some way like he does—not as much as he does—but at least enough to make her feel some kind of connection...she needs that feeling of connection. She said she'd know it when she found the right man.

He looked sad as she told him that, but he nodded that he understood, then he hugged her to him again, and said in his deep, sexy, gravelly voice, "I'll always love you, little girl, and I just want you to be happy. But, God help me, I still you want you so badly, so..." he backed away from her as he finished his statement, "...I have to let you go now, because very improper thoughts and images are invading my mind and my body is following suit." He stared at her and she could see the fire burning in his eyes even in the dim light, and his breathing was a little heavier.

The breath caught in her throat; the look on his face was the same look of raw need she'd seen on his face the first moment she realized he wanted her when she ran into him during the studio tour the day they met almost 2 years ago. Her eyes burned back at him as her pussy tingled and flooded with wetness the same way it had done when she'd felt his hard cock press against her that first time, and they knew that they were both starting to recall everything they did and felt that weekend. They knew it was time to go their separate ways for good because their desires for each other would never die and could end up causing them problems in the future.

She breathed heavily as she stared back at him, then tears came to her eyes and a lump formed in her throat as she backed toward the curtains and said huskily, "Good bye, big man. You'll always be the man of my dreams...and I'll always be your biggest fan." She turned around, glanced out the curtains to be sure the hallway was empty and stepped out and made her way quickly back to the lobby to find her boss and tell him she was ready to leave whenever he was.

Her boss frowned as he glanced at her and saw that her face seemed flushed and she looked upset—he had noticed that both she and Wayne had disappeared for several minutes, and he looked at her as if to ask if anything bad had happened. She frowned sadly and just whispered, "We were just saying good bye...forever." Her boss made his excuses to the group he was chatting with and took her home.

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Several weeks later, Diana was at an Irish-style Pub with her girlfriends when she noticed a man at the bar who kept staring at her with the same type of burning look that she used to see in the big man's eyes. He sort of reminded her of the way the big man had looked in "Rio Grande" but about 10 years younger—this man had thick, dark brown hair and a mustache and piercing grayish blue eyes. She started to feel her pussy tingle slightly as she got the feeling he was envisioning things he wanted to do to her, and she was starting to envision things like that as well. Part of her heart stirred as the tingles between her legs started to spread up her spine.

When a couple men approached her and her girlfriends to ask if any of them wanted to play darts or something, she shook her head no but nodded at her girlfriends to go ahead, and she stayed seated at their table and kept glancing at the man staring at her. Her drink was empty so she got up and walked to the bar several feet away from him and set her glass down. The bartender asked her if she wanted a refill, so she nodded and he poured her another whiskey, neat, and she saw the man staring at her crook his eyebrow at her choice of drink—it looked eerily similar to the way the big man crooked his.

He got up and walked over to her telling the bartender that he was paying for her drink, and she noticed he was a just a few inches shorter than the big man, but he had a sexy, manly physique; wide shoulders, a large chest and a tapered abdomen under his dark suit. He stopped and stared at her for a moment and then asked, "Are you here with any of the men you've been talking to tonight?" She shook her head no. "Do you have a boyfriend, fiancé, husband or lover?" Again she shook her head. Then he said in a deep, sexy voice that made her soul stir from a familiar echo, "Good. Then I won't have to beat the shit out of some man for messing with my future wife. I'm Charles Richards, and you belong to me now, pretty lady."

She was taken aback by his boldness at first, so she tried to walk away from him but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back and against him, wrapped her arm behind her back and kissed her, leaning her backwards, just like in the scene from "The Quiet Man" when Sean first kisses Mary Kate when he finds her in his cottage. Her pussy flooded with wetness when she felt his hard cock pressed against her crotch, and she felt herself melting into him...all except for that piece of her heart that had already been claimed years ago by the first man of her dreams.

This story continues, entitled "Charles and Diana" in the Loving Wives category, the story of two soul mates united by their mutual admiration of John Wayne.