#Sunrise Memphis

[sunset-mp4]

MEMPHIS!

yes I'm redesigning all of SMA ::]

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

#Waybackmachine #MaybeItWasMemphis

Meanwhile, seven years ago this morning.

[voidvannie]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄

𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐮

𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞

｡ ｡ ｡ ｡ 🕊️🤍 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 ｡ ｡ ｡ ｡ jamie decides he wants to change isabelle’s name but first he has to ask the most important men in her life.

ੈ✩ ━ ❪ feel free to send an any request of things you want to see in this series, or if you just want to share some thoughts about what your read! i would love that! ❫

June 4, 2024

When you see somebody Who erases everybody in the room I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do

Jamie hadn't meant to be up as early as he was, the bold black letters of the time plastered on the screen of his phone reading 5:30 AM while he sat out on the back porch of the hughes lake house.

Another Summer of spending time with his girlfriend, her family and a couple of their friends was a nice getaway from their every day lives of playing hockey and doing all of her social media things.

The hockey players mind flashes to the small velvet black box that he had packed away in his duffel bag, making sure to keep Belle from finding.

He can hear the backdoor slide open but he doesn't take his eyes off of the sun rising in front of him.

"Morning, Jamie." Jim's voice flows from beside him, taking a seat an the empty chair.

"Morning." Jamie sends him a half smile as his head turns to look at him for just a second.

"You're up early." He says after a moment of silence, sitting the coffee cup on the arm of the chair.

"Yeah, I just needed a breather before we get up to whatever Jack has cooked up or us today." Jamie tells him with a slight chuckle.

Jim lets out a chuckle of his own and they sit in silence for a moment before the father of four broke it, "I can see all the signs, son....so go ahead. Ask me."

Oh, I I don't wanna change who you are I don't wanna mess with your dreams Or get in the way of who you wanna be

Jamie feels the palms of his hands grow sweaty as he wipes them on the dark grey material of the sweat pants he's wearing, his words suddenly catching in the back of his throat.

"Um, I.....I want to ask Belle to marry me." He finally chokes out, eyes never leaving the sunrise in front of him.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" Jim turns to look at his daughter's boyfriend.

"For about year. I’ve had the ring since December 27, 2023." He tells Jim, finding a sudden interest in playing with the thing bracelet on his wrist with 'IMH' engraved on it.

"A year?"

Jamie smiles, "Yeah. It first crossed my mind when I was traded to the Flyers. I called her right after I got the phone call when we were in Memphis and she told me that we would be okay, I'd be okay. That's when was like, 'damn, i really think i want to spend the rest of my life with this girl.'."

"And when were you sure you wanted to marry her?"

"A week after I was traded, when she packed up her apartment in California to move in with me in Philly." Jamie has no hesitation as he speaks.

Jim smiles at the adoration in Jamie's voice when he talks about his daughter, "Jamie, when Belle first came home telling Ellen and I about you, I was honestly worried. I love my sons, and I love hockey, but I didn't want my daughter to date a hockey player. But listening to how she talked about you, how she talked about the way you treated her, I told Ellen, 'i'm happy that he can put this big smile on her face and a bright sparkle in her eyes'. That's all a father could ever want for his little girl."

Jamie listens, hanging onto every word.

"And if you wanna marry my daughter, I give you permission to do so." He says as they both stand up, Jim bringing Jamie into a hug.

"Thank you."

────── ❪ 🌿🕊️! ❫

No, I I won't stop your runaway heart I just wanna be why you stay Only thing about you that I'd change is I'd change your name

Ellen and Belle had decided to take the time to have a little girls day, leaving the boys and Jim at the lake house.

Jamie sat on the couch next to Luke, playing with a lose thread on his jeans as he watched the others playing video games, trying to think of ways her could ask four of the dozen hockey players staying.

Taking a deep breath, he just decided to rip the band-aid off and quickly blurts it out, "I wanna ask Belle to marry me."

The yelling that had been going on quiets down as everyone turns to look over at Jamie, the sounds of Luke dropping the controller to the ground following.

“Did I hear that correctly?” Quinn leans forward to be able to look at Jamie.

“Dude! Come on!” Trevor groaned as he stands up from the couch, pulling his wallet from his back pocket and slapping a twenty into Jack’s outreached hand.

“Buddy, you made me twenty bucks richer!” Jack smiled widely, “Make me an Uncle in six months and I’ll win another twenty!”

“Don’t make him an uncle cause I’m not giving him another twenty.” Trevor huffs sitting back in his place. “Marry your girl, Jamie!”

“This is really what you want?” Quinn asked, his tone serious as he looks at the hockey player.

“A hundred percent. Guys, I love your sister with every little ounce of my being.” Jamie tells them, “Belle is the only person that I see myself marrying.”

“And our dad?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Asked him this morning, he said yes.” Jamie wipes his hands on his jeans, growing nervous again under the gaze of all the guys.

“Well, you have my yes.” Jack grinned.

“When do you want to do this?” Quinn crossed his arms over his chest.

“This weekend, before we leave.” Jamie answered, “She’s always talked about getting proposed to on the end of the dock.”

Quinn smiled, “Okay. You reeled me in. Yeah, you can marry my little sister.”

“Luke, you’re really quiet over there, buddy.” Jack grinned at the little pout on Luke’s face.

With the pout still on his lips, Luke crosses his arms over his chest, “Fine, you can marry my sister.” He pauses, "But I would also like to become an uncle, just not in six months."

────── ❪ 🌿🕊️! ❫

June 11, 2024

I can't see 20 years from now Hell, I can barely see today Can't promise you your sky won't drop a little rain When that smile in the mirror disappears I promise you I'll be right here

"Hey, baby." Jamie grins as he walks back into the lake house from being on the boat with the boys, leaning down to kiss her, "Got anything planned for tonight?"

"Hmm, no." Belle shakes her head, "Why?"

"I'm taking you out to dinner." Jamie tells her as she looks at him, "What is it?"

"What do I wear?"

"Something pretty."

“Okay.”

────── ❪ 🌿🕊️! ❫

Oh, I I don't wanna change who you are I don't wanna mess with your dreams Or get in the way of who you wanna be

“Have I mentioned how pretty you look?” Jamie grinned from the driver side of the rental car her shared with Trevor.

“Hmm, almost every chance that you get.” Belle smiles over at her boyfriend, bringing her hand up to play with the hair on the back of his neck. “Tonight was nice, just the two of us.”

“It was.” Jamie pulls into the driveway of the lake house, “But I have one more surprise.”

Belle raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend as he quickly jogs around the front of the car to her side, pulling the door open for her, “Thank you.”

“Always.” He smiles, kissing her for a brief moment before he takes her hand and starts leading her down towards the dock.

A quiet gasp leaves her lips as she takes in the sight of the small boat dock.

Candles lit up the walkway going out to the end. Seven bundles of roses lined up the sides as well as rose petals scattered along the middle.

“Jamie….” Belle stops in her tracks as tears begin to rise above her water line.

Jamie grins as he takes her by the hands, pulling her close to him, bringing her hand to wrap around his neck as he let his own drop to her waist, “Isabelle….,”

“No, don’t drop to one knee right now.” Her bottom lips trembles as she looks into her boyfriends eyes.

A chuckle leaves his lips as he sniffles, “You know, Trevor caught me watching your videos the night before we met? I had found them a couple weeks before and watched them all, and I never picked up that you were related to Jack, Quinn and Luke. And then I walked out of the locker room, and there you were.”

“We went back to our house after dinner that night, and I couldn’t stop talking about how amazing you were so Trevor gave me your number and I was so terrified to do anything with it. Took me two weeks to build up the courage to text you and ask you to have lunch with me.”

“After, I went home and I called my mom. I’ve never told you this, have I?” Jamie stops to ask her, which she shakes her head no, “Good. I went home and I called my mom, and I told her, ‘This girl, she’s it. She is everything that I’ve been searching for. She’s it for me,’ and she just laughed me off and said, ‘Jamie, your young, you’ll have more than one experience like this’, and I told her, ‘watch me marry her.’.”

“We’ve been there for each other through every good, bad, up, down. Through sickness, career moves, through every hockey game, every time you needed someone to participate in videos for your channel, TikTok pranks, and your pregnancy scare last year.” Jamie kept going with his speech, never once losing eye contact with Belle as he did.

“And the other morning, I was sitting out on the porch, lost in thought about how I was going to ask your dad and brothers, when your dad came and sat down next to me. He could see it on my face that I wanted to ask him, and he asked me how long ago had I been thinking about asking you to marry me. For an entire year, the thought of marrying your had been in the back of my mind, but six months ago I finally got the courage to buy the ring."

"But the exact moment that I really knew that I wanted to have you for the rest of my life was last year when you packed up everything you made for yourself in California and moved with me to Philly." Jamie's thumb wiped away the tears falling from Belle's face, tears of his own falling. "Can I get down on one knee now?"

A sob rips through her throat as she vigorously nodded her head, "Please."

Jamie chuckles before pulling the ring box out of his pocket, dropping down to one knee as he looked up at the blonde, "Isabelle Marie Hughes, will you marry me?"

"Yes, of course!" A giggle leaves her lips as Jamie slides the beautiful ring onto her finger before standing up and bringing her into a deep, breath taking, kiss.

Loud cheers fill the air as everyone comes out of their hiding spots, Luke instantly rushing to his older sister, spinning her around in a tight hug.

"Oh, let me see the ring!" Ellen grabs her hand, smiling at the diamond ring resting on her finger. "Oh, my baby is getting married!"

No, I I won't stop your runaway heart I just wanna be why you stay Only thing about you that I'd change is I'd change your name

Jamie smiles as he watches his fiancee gush over the ring with her mother, that smile growing bigger as she locked eyes with him, “I love you.” He mouths watching as she mouths the words back.

[thatbanditqueen]

Come Hell or Come Sundown

A Charro! One-Shot

Summary: It is the summer of 1968 and Elvis finds himself in a New Hollywood, no more production code, just a ratings system with the promise of more sex and violence. This is good, because Elvis is in transition too! He is hot off the set of his TV special and ready to make a gritty western he can be proud of. Things are going well, he's making friends on location in Arizona, but then first they cut some of the violence, and now he's not so sure there is going to be any sex scenes in this movie. What's next, are they going to make him sing to his horse?

Inspired by the cut nude bath scene and the notes in Donna Lewis' diary that there were originally sex scenes scripted in Charro!

A response to the writing prompt: "Cowboy Elvis"

Warnings: References to past sexual harassment, minor drug use implied and kissing.

WC: 13.4K

Thanks to my lovely writing support group @vintageshanny @ellie-24 @be-my-ally @lookingforrainbows @from-memphis-with-love @missmaywemeetagain @shakerattlescroll @peskybedtime and to @whositmcwhatsit for alpha-ing most of this. It is been a crazy two months, I won't go into it, but if you are still reading my stuff let me know it.

July 29, 1968

Apacheland Arizona

Ina leaned against the back side of the sound stage listening to the cactus wren sing their sunrise melody for the desert. Off in the brush she saw a lizard scurry away. It was early, but the air was already beginning to heat up and hung there thick with promise. She took a sip of her coffee, savoring the light, sweet taste, her heart full of hopeful anticipation for the sweet day ahead. 

She ran her fingers down over her blouse, enjoying the smooth empty feeling underneath where round flesh had been a month ago. 

This picture had been the answer to her prayers, a sign that she could still land a part as the love interest role. It was a role she knew well, one she had been playing for ten years in vehicles designed to showcase male stars: John Wayne, Paul Newman, Jerry Lewis, and now Elvis. Ina rarely got a leading role in a picture focused on a couple or a strong female character, but she accepted it was still a good salary and it kept her busy on and off between modeling gigs.

Lately, however, the on and off had been more off, and her agent, Mickey, had started talking about auditioning for roles as older sisters, aunts, and even, gasp, mothers.

But then she got this and bam! She had knocked over her phone with excitement as Mickey  described this project as a “modern, gritty western.”  She’d even agreed to the nudity, accepting her agent’s advice that this was going to open up even more doors now that the production code was gone and the film industry had a new rating system that allowed for mature content.

The first American western with a sex scene. That’s how Chuck, this director, had pitched his script in their first meeting, while also assuring her it would be tasteful and artistic and mainly shot using her facial expressions. She hadn’t cared, signing anywhere they wanted if it meant staving off cinematic spinsterhood for as long as possible.

And then, after carefully examining every dimple in her bottom that night, Ina had launched into a month-long disciplined regimen of ballet classes, black beauties and one meal a day. Ina took a deep breath and inhaled the earthy, floral aroma of the Arizona desert, letting it fill her with confidence. Her tummy was svelte, her skin glowed with a healthy bronze tan, and she was ready to conquer the shoot ahead. She had a feeling about this picture. A good one. 

Hollywood was buzzing about the TV special Elvis had just finished shooting. Apparently it was raw and gritty and unvarnished, just like the script for this film. And Chuck, her director, was the king of the westerns, who had been promoting Charro! in the trade press as Peckinpah meets Leone with more sex appeal and heart. 

Ina looked out at the orange glow of the desert sky at sunrise one last time as she stomped out her cigarette butt and murmured to herself with hushed excitement.

“What a glorious start to a glorious day.”

She headed back inside and made her way around the back of the set where she bumped into Elvis’ stunt double and friend, Jerry. Ina grinned, she couldn’t help it, Jerry’s serious eyes and rugged shoulders made her heart skip a beat. 

“That was some party last night, huh?” 

Jerry looked down, his low chuckle heavy with the weight of words unspoken as they both reflected on the prior evening. Ina was sure she saw an echo of her own desire in the warmth dancing behind Jerry’s blue eyes.

“You should talk, Sandy Koufax. Charlie’s grateful he can still see.”

Ina gulped, covering her mouth.. “ Oh no! Is he really hurt? I felt so bad, I was aiming for his stomach.” Ina said, twirling her hair. “Although I didn’t feel nearly as bad after watching Elvis go after Alan with the whole bucket, intentionally, over and over. He really took it to the next level.”

“Oh, that’s just how the bossman lets off steam.”

“That’s one way to put it. Say, where is the old steam engine, anyway?”

“He just went out front to get some dirt on his clothes.”

Ina raised her eyebrow. 

“He wants to make sure he has that real cowboy look.”

“Huh, Elvis Strasberg. Who knew?” 

Ina thought of Elvis out rolling around in the dirt and tried not to giggle. This got harder and harder as she looked into Jerry’s eyes, which were also twinkling with amusement.

In a moment of vulnerability Ina decided to let down her guard and step closer, trailing her fingers over Jerry’s upper arm. His muscle flinched slightly under her hand and it made her feel a little flight of butterflies in her tummy. 

“Too bad,” she murmured in what she hoped was a sexy, flirtatious voice.  “I was beginning to hope maybe you’d have to step in for him today.”

Jerry’s eyes widened for a split second, as he ran his hand through his hair. “Uh, well, as far as I know his scenes today aren’t dangerous at all.”

“That’s what you think.” Ina smiled, walking backwards for a few steps to enjoy the slight blush coloring Jerry’s scruffy cheeks.

She couldn’t be sure, but she felt there was a spark between them, and it made her feel young and giddy. Fifteen years of having her body and self worth surveyed and scrutinized and picked apart had left Ina unsure of her seduction abilities. First it had been photographers and advertising executives, then producers and directors had joined the throng out to shatter her confidence. For some women, the brutality of the business helped them create a calloused, impenetrable outer shell and distorted sense of self worth. For Ina, it had done the opposite, and she frowned as she felt the familiar knot of insecurity tighten in her stomach and vowed not let her self doubt stop her from having fun this time. No, before the end of this shoot she’d get Jerry alone and find out if he was as quiet and soft spoken in bed as he was on set.

Twenty minutes later, Ina was still smiling to herself when she slunk into a chair in make-up and pulled her thick, terry cotton robe tighter around her body. 

“Look at you,” Bertie gushed as she toyed with Ina’s long, brown hair. “Excited for the scenes today?”

Ina paused and looked at herself in the mirror, letting out a nervous sigh. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

She awkwardly smiled up at Bertie, and told herself to relax even as her shoulders inadvertently rolled upward and she tugged at the hem of her robe.

“You know five, even three years ago, you would kiss, passionately, then the camera would pan to the bedside table and come back into focus with you smoking. But now, Blow Up, Bonnie & Clyde, the new rating system. It’s a whole new ball game out there. I’m not sure - “

“Oh, you’re gonna be fine.”

Ina looked down and studied the top of her cleavage, she felt strangely ambivalent about the nudity and the sex scenes they were shooting. She was proud that they wanted her to do them, it bolstered her self esteem and made her feel longed for and desired, special. But she couldn’t shake that nagging feeling deep down that she would get on set, bare it all and then have the director and DP exchange hushed whispers before pulling her off and recasting her role. She met her own gaze again in the mirror and tried to squelch her self doubt.

“I know, I know, and it’s all very tasteful. I trust Chuck. Still, I’m the one wearing a see-through robe. All Elvis has to do is take off his cowboy hat before he carries me to the bed. He might be shirtless in the second scene, but for the most part all we’ll see is a little bit of his ear.”

Bertie nodded into big rounds of hair she was smoothing over with oil and pinning into place with bobby pins lodged at the side of her mouth.

“Yeah, well, with most guys I’d be fine just seeing the ear, cuz women’s bodies are just more beautiful. But with Elvis, I kinda wished they’d have him nude too, you know?” She clicked her tongue and winked at Ina in the mirror,

“You should get Betty Friedan on that, it would really be a movement for sex equality. Though I bet he’d give you a private show if you asked him, Bertie. He’s making his way through the crew, two at a time I hear.”

Bertie wiggled her eyebrows into the mirror.

“Yeah, I heard about that, two of the pretty Mexican extras, right? They can have him, I just want to look at him. I don’t think I’d survive if he touched me.” She flipped her long red hair over her shoulder and bit her lip. “I don’t know how you are going to make love to him all day.”

“Oh, well, when it’s work, you sort of detach yourself. I mean, yes, Elvis is very handsome, but he doesn’t really send me, you know? You should have seen him last night with his guys. Like a pack of wild animals.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I think Jerry is the only one who has ever opened a book, or doesn’t eat with his hands.”

Ina tried not to move as she watched Bertha pin another round hair piece in place. 

“The stunt double? He sure has that silent type thing going for him.” Bertie squinted her eyes at Ina as she stuck a few more pins in. “Ahhhh, let me guess, that’s the type you go for. Over Elvis. Are you telling me that you wouldn’t, you know, play patty cake with Elvis if he made the move? I thought he always dated his leading lady, maybe those extras are just the appetizer before the main dish..”

Ina sat up, admiring the tower of rolled hair Bertie had constructed on top of her head. Satisfied, she leveled Bertie with a friendly but stern look.

“Things can get sticky when you bed your co-star. And giving in just encourages them. You shoulda seen Jerry Lewis trailing me around off set like a creep. like I owed it to him.” 

Ina grimaced, remembering Lewis’ sweaty brow as he had pushed her against the wall of her dressing room and promised that she’d like it, that she didn’t know what she was missing. She shuddered, thinking of him and all the others: the photographers who’d grinded into her as they straddled over her during a photo shoot. The producers who had invited her to an audition and then cornered her alone. She felt sick to her stomach and reached out for the random half drunk bottle of Coke on the vanity in front of her to wash away the bad taste in her mouth.

“You ok, Miss Balin?”

“Please Bertie, call me Ina. After that party last night I think we’re all on a first name basis.”

“Ha, yeah, I guess.” She turned Ina around to finish her make up. “You know, I think you might be the only woman here who doesn’t want to sleep with Elvis.”

“Thank god Elvis seems to be somewhat of a gentleman, because I’m not looking to be another notch on his belt, I’ve worked too hard to stay in this business without a casting couch reputation, and I plan to keep it that way. Plus, with all the bed hopping that happens on location, and then having to run scenes together if things get, you know, weird. Better to keep things professional between us.”

“On the other hand, a lonely stunt man...”

Ina winked, she could feel the giddy excitement bubble up just thinking of Jerry. She tried to stifle it and stay aloof as she spoke.

“A month is a long time, even a lonely stuntman deserves some company.”

A cough interrupted their giggles and the women turned to see Elvis leaning against the doorway, one hand on his belt. He squinted his eyes, looking at them with exaggerated suspicion as he wiped his hand over his forehead leaving a dark streak of dirt above his brow.

“Uh huh, and just what’d I stumble into here, huh? You two look like you are up ta no good, boy, I tell ya what.”

Perfectly lined smoky eyes sat below Elvis’ dirty forehead and more dirt billowed off his trousers as he strode toward the two women, his hands hanging off the top of his corduroy trousers. Bertie shot Ina a cautious glance in the mirror that warned her not to laugh, even as  the sides of her lips seemed to hold back a chuckle.

“I’ve seen that look before Iny Niny.” Elvis said. “Right about the moment ya took aim and fired at poor Charlie Hodge, square the eyes.”

“I really didn’t mean to hurt him! Really.” Something about Elvis’ easy charm made it impossible not to smile broadly. “I - we - we’re not up to anything, you. Just chit chat. I was saying how I almost didn’t recognize you when I got here yesterday. On account of that beard you got, Presley.”

“I almost don’t recognize myself, honey.” He paused and looked in the mirror, taking a step closer as he rubbed the dirt into his forehead more. “That’s probably a good thing, maybe this picture actually has a chance to be something.”

Ina sat up as Bertie dusted her with a last round of hair spray and swiveled her chair around to face him. 

“Oh, now don’t say that, there’s a reason you’re the star here. I love your movies.”

Ina may not have actually seen them all, but she knew of Elvis’ desire to be in more serious dramas. It was a common topic of conversation in Hollywood when his name came up. Ok, well, one of the common topics. Maybe not as common as his reputation for fucking his costars, she mused to herself, but still, as someone who had even less clout to be picky about projects, she sympathized with that ever present double bind of needing the money, not wanting to be seen as difficult, and yet, also yearning for more creative fulfillment.

Their eyes met and he nodded to himself, pursing his lips, as if he were reading her mind,

“Huh, so you're the one.” He grinned and took his cowboy hat off, running his hand through his hair as he tried to fill the awkward silence. “Well, sorry but I can’t issue you a refund, Iner Niner. All I can promise is that this ‘un will be better than some of the stinkers, I reckon.”

Ina smiled big, thinking of the desert sunrise this morning, all the good omens. “I don’t know if I would ever describe an Elvis film as a stinker. But I do have a good feeling about this film.” 

Elvis scratched his beard, a naughty blush lighting up his cheeks as he took in the very sheer negligee peeking out from under her white terry cloth robe. 

“Huh, feeling better and better the more I look- I mean listen to you, INy”

Ina felt a chill up her spine as she looked into Elvis’ dancing eyes, lingering on his face with newfound appreciation. There was something about the way the stubbly beard he had grown out for this role accentuated his jawline and made him seem more rugged, more handsome than he had looked when he played the polished romantic lead in his previous films. She felt a flutter of something unfamiliar stir in her belly; she had never been gaga over Elvis before. 

And you are not now, she told herself, it’s just the characters and the scenes you know you are shooting today. Besides, he flirts with everyone, why he’d been flirting with you and every woman in the bar last night even when he had one or two extras on his lap. 

Elvis arched his eyebrow, and Ina pulled her robe closer with a nervous laugh.

“Yeah, I think you’re gonna be seeing a lot more of me today.” She chuckled. “I was just telling Bertie I remembered when all I had to do to film a sex scene was lead a cowboy into my wigwam, and let the camera cut to smoke coming out of the top. We left the rest to the audience’s imagination.”

“Yeah, I think I remember that one.” Elvis whistled as he plopped into the make-up chair next to her.  “Well, don’t worry, we’re only gotta pretend to make love with an audience of a hundred or so crew members watching, so no pressure.”

They laughed nervously, and then one of the production assistants peered around the door and called to Ina that the DP was ready to work out the lighting for her fully nude bath scene. She stood and gave Elvis a friendly pat, smiling inwardly as she looked over her shoulder to see Bertie trying to wipe the dirt off his forehead. 

“See you out there in the ring, Presley.”

“Ok,” he smiled.

Ina studied him for another beat, wondering if the way his beard framed his lips made them look even bigger and more luscious, but she couldn’t be sure.

Striding from the building with wardrobe and dressings back to the soundstage, Ina considered how Elvis had managed to meet and completely defy her expectations. She had never seen him at awards shows, premieres or parties, nor ran into him around town or at the studio canteens. Indeed,he had a reputation for keeping to himself in Hollywood. All she knew was the second hand information she got from people who had worked with him and the Hollywood rumor mill. There were so many contradictory descriptions of him that no, she had not known what to expect when she arrived in Arizona and discovered an Elvis she barely recognized under the scruffy beard he’d grown.

When Chuck, the director, had brought her over to introduce them, he had been shy and sweet, sheepishly sticking out his hand with an affected deep “Hullo, I’m Elvis Presley.” But then by the end of the rehearsals yesterday they had become more comfortable with each other. Something about kissing Elvis inbetween jokes she knew he was making to make her feel at ease had broken the ice between them. And he had started in with the nicknames almost immediately, helping to bring her into the camaraderie that had been established with the crew before her arrival. 

The run through yesterday had gone well, all jokes aside, and he had shown himself to be respectful and kind, never pushing or trying anything when they were in each other's arms. It’s probably good that he’s sleeping with some of the extras, Ina thought to herself. That way there would be no pent up sexual expectations and she could just focus on being a professional and perhaps even friends with Elvis. 

Yes, she could be friends with him. Ina had only been in Apacheland for a little over 24 hours, but she could tell from Elvis’ warmth that they had established a solid rapport and chemistry for their roles. She felt as safe as she could with him as she readied herself for her first nude role on film.

“Today is going to be a good day,” Ina repeated to herself as she opened the door and entered the sound stage.

Ina was walking along the corridor behind the set when she heard Jerry’s voice on the other side of the plywood and hurried to catch him and flirt a little more. But then he said her name and she stopped, listening, as she realized he was speaking with one of Elvis’ other friends. It sounded like Charlie.

“I saw y’all. Why, she had her hands all over you, ya big stud. You really ain’t gonna try to bury the hatchet in that briar patch?”

“Oh, you know how Crazy can be. All I did was apologize to Alma and Flor for blocking the doorway last night and he ‘bout split in two. I ain’t about to try no funny business with his leading lady.”

“But you heard him call her Groucho, said he could barely stand to kiss her with that mustache above her lip. Said she was so manly, you could almost mistake her for one a the cowboy extras in drag. Like a goddamn drag queen who forgot to shave, is what he said.”

Ina felt the blood drain from her face and she began to tremble, tracing her fingers above her smooth upper lip, the one she diligently waxed every two weeks. They might as well have punched her in the gut with a steel two by four. She could almost taste something metallic at the back of her throat, where a lump formed.Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, and it took all her willpower to push them back as she stood there paralyzed while Jerry and Charlie chatted away.

“Aw, well he was off his rocker, she isn’t nearly as bad as that dog from continuity he had in his room at NBC, you know, with the big knockers?”

“Nah, I think In-ahhs pretty cute myself. If she’d been pawing my chest I’d be on that like white on rice, man.”

“Heard you like drag queens, Hodges.”

“Aw naw man, see, now that ain’t fair. Sides, that’s Lamar.”

The busy sound of the crew talking and moving around the sound stage echoed up into the lights with Charlie and Jerry’s laughter, but Ina could hardly hear anything except the pounding of her heart through her whole body. Air. She needed air. Ina hurried out a side door, her mind was racing and there was no way she could stomach the idea of filming a sex scene with Elvis now. Jerry and Charlie’s words had fractured the fragile veneer of confidence she had spent the last month building up. Dieting, ballet classes, early nights, slathering her face in cold cream and plunging it in ice first thing in the morning, staying away from alcohol and ice cream. She had worked so hard to get to a place where she had been able to look in the mirror and tell herself she could do this. Now all her self doubt had returned tenfold. 

Facing the desert, she lit a cigarette and muttered under her breath, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Oh god oh god, why did I take this role? Why do I embarrass myself again and again?”

Ina pressed her hand to her throat as she sucked in deeply, willing the nicotine to steady her shaking body. She longed to run off, get in her car, and maybe drive to that bar down the road Bertie had told her about, the one where all the baseball players went. 

The very idea of male attention was like a salve, and it helped her slow her breath as she slumped against the warm, concrete wall of the sound stage and looked out at the desert, focusing on the hills in the distance.

It was like looking out at a completely different view than she had faced that morning. The land was now  desolate and unforgiving in the July heat, and the jagged peaks of Superstition mountain loomed like a giant, dark fiery sentinel in the sky. Her chest rose and fell with each inhale and exhale of smoke, her fingers trembled as she tried to quell the turmoil churning inside her. 

Just when she was sure she couldn’t walk back inside, she smelled a hint of sage in the dust, it filled her nostrils with renewed energy. The wind whispered in her ear that she was stronger than she knew, she had trudged harder paths than this.  She could put one foot in front of the other.

The door next to her exploded open and there was the fresh face of the young, blonde PA who had called to her in wardrobe.

“Oh, there you are Miss Balin, we’re ready for you.”

Ina sucked in another drag of her cigarette and took a deep breath. She could do this. Elvis and his entourage were a bunch of childish idiots. Fuck them. 

True to his promise, the director, Chuck, kept the set closed for the nude bath scene Ina was shooting first. It was just him, the cinematographer, his assistant, the boom operator, and three female PAs. One to hold the clap board and two to help Ina in and out of the tub. The scene was blocked so the camera only captured her naked from behind with the side of her breast visible as she donned a sheer blue robe lined with black lace. They would run it from the top, then Chuck would run over and tell her how stunning she was and ask for another take as she shivered. It took eleven takes in all before he and the DP were content they had the footage they needed.  

Ina reclined in her chair, trying to warm up during the short break before the next scene. She was rehearsing the dialogue as people trickled in to shoot her first love scene with Elvis, and she suddenly became paranoid that other crew members had heard Jerry and Charlie’s story about Elvis’ calling her a drag queen. She sat up and looked around. Suddenly every hushed whisper was about her, every glance her way was filled with pity. She gripped the side of her chair and told herself to get it to-fucking-gether. 

The next scene was meant to occur directly after the bath, when her character, Tracy, discovers Elvis’ character, Jess, rummaging around in her bedroom looking for his gun. They would argue, then kiss, then argue more before he carried her to the bed. After that, he would remove her robe and begin to kiss her neck, stop and then put his hat on the bedpost, before the camera moved in for an extreme close up of her face as they made love.

Then they would break the set and set up for the second sex scene that was meant to take place at the end of the film when Jess has been victorious against the band of outlaws and takes her to Mexico with him to start a new life across the border. 

Ina squeezed her hand, using her thumb as a metronome as she said her lines. “I must look new to you - toooo you  - I MUST look NEW to YOU now.” She had these little games she had learned in acting class to vary the rhythm and emphasis over and over until she was comfortable in the dialogue, in the character, and it rolled off her tongue naturally, without having to think about it.

Elvis' voice rang out high above the buzz of the crew and all the words she had ever known fell out of her head. She felt her sphincter clench up tightly instinctively as if on cue at the sound of his chuckle, and a frown formed on her lips. The air was suddenly ripe with the smell of sweaty bodies and stale coffee and cigarette smoke.

Looking over her shoulder, just the sight of him surrounded by his flunkies made Ina’s stomach sour. A spark of defiance bloomed in her belly at his smug face and she longed now to walk up to Elvis and slap him sharply across the face before telling him off for being such a rotten two-faced charming bastard. But instead she popped another black beauty to fight off the hunger she had sensed growing in her belly and steeled herself to give the performance of a lifetime.

Elvis passed by her chair as she stood, a crooked grin pushing the apples of his cheeks up above his beard. 

“Well, might as well get it over with.”

His despondency made Ina bristle. She was completely incapable of stopping the prickly voice that sprang out from her throat.

“We don’t have to shoot these love scenes.”

Elvis paused in his stride toward the set and looked back at Ina, his brow furrowed for a moment before he grinned again, bigger and wider.

“Huh? Course I want to shoot ‘em, love scenes are my specialty.”

Ina narrowed her eyes at his stupid, smirking expression as he glanced around at his friends as they whistled and chimed in with a chorus of stupid affirmations. 

“Uh huh.”

“That’s right.“

“On and off the set” 

“Well, you seem anxious to, what was it, get this over with?” She said cooly, leveling him with a glare. “So then it must be me. Maybe we could just cut them from the film altogether. CHUUCK?”

Elvis’ face began to scrunch up in a frown as Ina’s voice rang out like a knife, cutting through the chaos of a live shoot. The sound stage had been buzzing with activity as the crew readied the set, but now everyone had stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at the two leads.

Elvis’ eyes zoned in on Ina and his face clouded with concern as his hands tightened against his body in clenched fists.

“Now see here - “ then he paused and took a deep breath, smiling big. 

That broad, smooth, movie star beam. 

“Aw, now I think we got are wires crossed someplace.That’s jus my ole stage fright talkin’, honey. Gets me ev’ry time like a sonabitch. Didn’t mean nothin’ by it, Iny Tiny, come get over here. I feel very honored to work with you. I been sayin’ all week, haven’t I, Chuck? That I couldn’t wait for Ina to get here, class up this joint’?”

Ina looked at where Chuck stood, hands at his hips as he nodded, a terrified grin plastered on his face.

“That’s right, that’s right. Why, that's what we’ve all been saying, Ina, we couldn’t wait for our Tracy to get here.”

Chuck dug a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped it over his big, balding head as he spoke slowly, as if talking to a spooked horse. Ina

“I think I know what’s going on, my dear.”

Chuck looked over at Elvis and then put his arm around Ina, guiding her toward her mark. 

“You’re nervous. We’ve just spent two hours during the bath scene. And this sort of  - um - delicate, shall we say, yes, delicate feminine performance is new to you, isn't it?”

“Well, yes, I suppose, but I - “ 

Chuck put his finger to Ina’s mouth

“Say no more, my dear. It’s natural to feel vulnerable in this situation. But let me assure you, everything is being shot in the most artistic technique possible. And you, well, just look at you, huh?” He spun her around in the center of the set. 

“Ina, you are a dream. My living, breathing Renoir painting. And I want you to know, that was my inspiration for your room here. The colors, the outfits, a Parisian chorus line meets the Old West. The colors, the costumes, they are meant to evoke the Belle Epoch, you know? You are wearing the same outfits Degas’ dancers wore, did you know that?”

“Uh huh, you mean if they wore anything?” Ina added in a clipped tone.

“See, and that’s exactly it! The original work of art is, of course, the beauty of the female form.”

“Cain’t argue with that.” Elvis smirked, but Ina shot him a withering look which threw him off again and once more he was frowning and searching her face.

Chuck noticed none of this and kept talking. 

“And you are an exemplary example of the female form, a perfect specimen of a woman.”

“Well, I assure you I am no drag queen.”

Elvis coughed nervously, his hands clenched in fists at his side. The quick, sharp look he shot Joe did not escape Ina’s notice and she knew then that he had said the things Jerry and Charlie had been laughing about. She narrowed her glare at him, telegraphing her contempt as he stuttered and tried to regain control of the conversation.

“No - ah-uh -er -  siree, honey, you’re the real deal, got more class than the rest of this outfit combined. Why, I reckon I’m more nervous ‘bout this scene than you are.”

Chuck nodded vigorously.

“Yes, we are all nervous shooting something that is, as I said, delicate like this. And your character is unsure in this scene, she loves Jess, but is torn, because she’s worried he is still the bandit she sent away.  Channel your feelings into the scene and let’s make beautiful artwork here today.”

Ina rolled her eyes. “Ok, ok, I’m ok. Like he said, let’s just get it over with already.” 

Elvis grinned as he walked around the set door to his mark. 

“That’s the spirit, Iny Beany.”

Chuck yelled action, directing them through the scene as the cameras rolled.

“You see him rooting through your stuff, and you think of how long it's been, how he left you without a word. You hate him because you love him, but you wish you didn’t and you are trying to keep it all bottled up. Beautiful. Indifferent. That’s it Ina, that cool, icy glare, it’s perfect.”

It was not hard for Ina to muster a cool, icy glare for Elvis as he looked down at her. Every time they started, one of the PAs would come over and spray her body and chest with water for continuity with the bath scene that was just supposed to have occurred in the storyline.

In the third run through, she couldn’t help herself when Elvis’ foot knocked into hers. She thought of that guilty grimace she saw move across his face at the words “drag queen” and she stepped on his foot. Hard. 

“Perfect! Perfect Ina, you’re nailing it!” Chuck called out from where he was watching the monitor.

“Nailing me is more like it,” Elvis said, jumping back, a hurt pout on his face. Then he reached out and stroked the side of her shoulder. 

“Say, you sure you ok? You’re not sore at me for something, are you? It’d be better if we just clear the air. If I said something this morning, or did something in passing, honey, I’m sorry. But you gotta tell me.”

Ina looked in his big blue eyes, searching hers, seeking a connection. She glanced off behind him, at the brocade pink wall paper. The air smelled of bath water, sweat and cheap aftershave. Chuck was right, she thought, this could be a cheap Parisian brothel.

“I assure you, I am fine.” Ina forced her mouth into a tight smile. “Just watch where you’re going and we’ll be fine.”

He squinted his eyes at her, but seemed to decide against whatever it was he originally wanted to say, and stepped back with his arms up in surrender. “Okay. Alright. Whatever you say, Iny,  my mistake. Let’s try again, I bet we’ll get it right somehow.”

They went through the whole scene three times, up until the part where Jess lifts Tracy up and carries her to the bed. Elvis’ eyes narrowed as he stepped toward her, uttering his lines in a stern, serious voice. But when he picked her up and hoisted her in the air, she heard Charlie’s obnoxious laughter in the background and their words from earlier began to play through her head again on a loop.

The shrill sound of his laugh sent a sharp bolt of pain down the center of her head and suddenly she felt as if ginger ale was bubbling up on to the top of her brain. She wasn’t sure if she could hold it together anymore. 

There was the taste of bile again at the back of her throat. She swallowed, running through all of the tools she had learned in the Actor’s Studio such as telling herself she was Tracy and trying to channel her anger into the tension between Tracy and Jess. She was, after all, supposed to be fighting Jess’ advances at first and pushing him off before giving in. But she could barely look at Elvis and instinctively jerked back when he placed her on the bed and began to move his fingers over her sternum. 

Her head throbbed and she could feel more tears welling up. She had to get out of there and take a little break, so she cried out, “CUT!”

Elvis jumped back, a panicked look on his face.

“Did I hurt you, Iny Beany? Wanna do it again, just to practice, from the mark by the bed?”

“No.,” she hissed under her breath, pushing him away. Maybe she didn’t need a break, maybe they could just skip this scene altogether.

“No, no no. I’m sorry, I just can’t do it. Chuck, do we really need a full love scene? We’re not making Belle du Jour here.”

Elvis had his hands on his hips, a stricken look on his face while Ina stood, straightening what was left of her dignity and snapping her fingers for the PAs to bring her thicker robe. 

“Ina, darling, we just went through this.” Chuck’s  transatlantic accent was getting thicker and higher-pitched the more he spoke. “And I hate to bring this up, you know I do, my dear, but it's in your contract.”

“Contract or not, I can’t do it. I just can’t.”

“My dear, what can I do to make you comfortable?” Chuck pleaded.

“Nothing. I would rather make love to a rattlesnake than to that man.”

Elvis stood taller, his fingers balled up into fists as his leveled, polished voice began to transform into a Southern snarl. 

“Yeah, uh huh, well I had about enough of this bull shit. Rattlesnake, huh? That can be arranged, honey, why, I’ll get it myself.”

“Well, I bet it will be small and limp, just like you.”

He staggered back when she hurled those words at him, flustered and mumbling as he looked around the set to see who had been in earshot and heard her yell out the words ‘small and limp’ at him. The answer, of course, was everybody. Because everybody in the crew was watching.

They had, of course, originally gathered around because Charro! was making film history with today’s shoot. 

All the popular European films being released had sex scenes, James Bond was having sex. Several recent westerns had initially included nude scenes, but studios had cut them at the last minute. 

But 1968 marked the dawning of a new era. The MPAA had a new rating system. Bonnie & Clyde had proven last year that audiences not only had a stomach for violence, but wanted sex. And like Bonnie, they wanted it much more than they got it. And so this picture, and about a dozen others in production, were all racing to give it to them.

Even if the plan was to pan to a hat and then just Ina’s face, Charro! was going to make history. 

Or rather, it would have made history. Instead, the entire crew watched in horror as Ina threw up her hands and stomped off in protest while Elvis coughed loudly, took a deep breath, and then announced to the crowd

“Don’t worry, folks, we’re gonna get Arthur Rankin in here and he’s gonna recreate these scenes with claymation. Make a little Elvis the Rednosed Cowboy.” His voice rang out with forced cheerfulness, followed by a ripple of nervous laughter that spread through the soundstage. 

“Boy, I tell ya what, now that would be a historical milestone, huh Chuck? Bet audiences would pay double ta see a stop motion love scene.”

The director nodded as Elvis patted him on the shoulder with a forced, playful candor and then strode out of the studio followed by his entourage.

Elvis’ motel room was dark, save for the television, an ever present companion, and the table lamp that cast shadows against the wall outlining Alma’s silhouette. The light captured every curve of her body as it lay sideways across the bed next to him. His fingers tapped absentmindedly over her bronze thigh, but his mind was otherwise occupied and failed to register the coquettish look she was giving him as she pouted and ran her hand over his arm.

He was thinking of his first film and the time had asked his co-star, Richard Egan, the secret to good acting.

“You. You already got it kid, in spades. Why do you think they renamed this picture after your song? Just be you, unaffected, unadulterated. You’re a natural.”

But what good had natural ability been without opportunity? He’d had such high hopes back then, hopes to be in real movies about real people, stories with an edge that packed a punch. And for a time, it seemed like he was. Dramas in which the singing was a plausible part of the premise.

But somewhere along the way the edge had been sanded off and his plans had all gone wrong. He’d gotten himself typecast as the type of character he hated, a romantic lead who broke into song during an appointment with the IRS. Those roles were fine for Rock Hudson, but not for him. He knew he could do better. Better than dumb musicals, better than all this. 

He had those same high hopes for this picture when he first read the script.

“Guess I should be happy this western’s actually being filmed in the goddamn desert and not in some California shrub valley,” he mumbled, balling his hands into fists as he spoke.

“What was that, baby?”

Elvis looked up at the woman lying next to him, he had forgotten she was even there. Her warm body next to him had become just another amenity of the room, like the mini fridge or the Gideons Bible. The puzzled look on her young, naive face reminded him how truly alone he was. 

Oblivious to Elvis' existential crisis, Alma decided maybe he needed some prompting after their kisses had dissolved into still silence. She moved her hand to Elvis’ thigh, stopping when he flinched and jumped up almost as if he were trying to escape her touch. She frowned, then flipped her hair as she adjusted and lay prone over the polyester orange bedspread, fashioning a come hither look on her face. She could tell he was rattled by the onset fight and was trying everything in her bag of tricks to laugh it off and redirect him to something better. Her. 

“Ha, small and limp. That bitch has no idea what she’s missing. It took all my self control not to cry out in front of everyone that you have an anaconda in your pants, Elvis.”

A grimace passed over his face, and Elvis started to button up his shirt and mumble to the floor.

“Don’t, baby - just-” He softened his voice at the rejection he saw in her eyes. “Honey, I can’t stand it when women do that.”

“What, what am I doing wrong?” Alma sat, her face falling as she scooted back against the pillows.

Elvis pulled on the red bandana around his neck and paced the other way, looking back at her as he tucked his shirt back into his clean, brown corduroy pants. His shoulders stiffened.

“Insincerity. I can’t, I jus hate it when women go overboard trying to puff up my ego. I’ve had my share of lovers, no one ever complained. That’s not the point.”

“It isn’t?”

“Nah, honey. What that bitch is really saying is she don’t take me serious, I’m not man enough for this fucking role, for her New York high society standards. Fat lot of good any a that did her, thinks I don’t know she’s been in what, five pictures? Jerry Lewis? Try twenty five, sister. Give me a goddamn break. She’s wound so tight, she could start a fight in an empty house, I tell ya what, boy, and that’s the god honest truth.”

He began to pace the room, wringing his hands over as he walked.

“This un’ is gonna be different, Chuck said, more raw, Chuck said, more real.” His voice trilled between a high falsetto and a deep growl. “Then first they cut the violence, and now this bullshit. What’s next? Bet they gonna try and have me sing to my fuckin horse!” 

He punched the wall. “Fucking cowboys don’t fucking sing!” He screamed to the ceiling, then began to pace again, his hands now balled up in fists.

He turned and looked at Alma. “You ever see John Wayne sing? Gary Cooper? ‘Fore they walked over to the OK corral to shoot the bad guy?”

He punched the wall again and then turned and tried to compose himself when he saw Alma flinch.

“Ok ok ok ok.” He took a deep breath. “I  - uh - this picture’s got me all keyed up.”

“Want some grass? Flor has some killer grass, make you forget today even happened.”

“Nah, honey -  now, good lil girls like you should know better than to mess with that stuff.”

Alma pulled her hand through her hair and struck what she thought was a glamorous, come hither pose.

“Want me to give you a blow job? Help you relax?”

Elvis frowned. “Man, like a goddamn cat in heat and twice as willing. Don’t you think of nothing else?” 

Alma sat up and started to put her clothes on, her voice as low as her hopes for the evening.

“You’re the one who invited me up here and had me undress while you watched. I’m just trying to do what I thought you wanted.”

“Well stop tryin’ to think, you’ll wear yourself out.” 

Alma grabbed her shoes and opened the door, finding Joe on the other side with one hand about to knock and another holding up a tray of food in his hands.

“Oh, hey -”

“Hey yourself.” Alma said with a huff and a very aggressive hair flip, her long brown tresses smacking Joe’s cheek.

Elvis shrugged as Joe looked after Alma, whistling to himself. 

“Man o man, EP, you got the prettiest girl here. What’s up her butt?”

“I don’t know - Something up with the chicks on this picture, man, stuck up and crazier than a sack full a possums.”

Elvis looked at himself in the mirror hanging on the wall across from the bed as Joe mumbled about how many crazy women they had met on their journeys, half-listening as he stroked his beard and reassured himself that he looked just as fit as Clint Eastwood. And more handsome. He winked at himself and straightened his belt buckle, then looked over at Joe.

“Now hold on a second, son, jus’ what in high heaven is that?”

Elvis lifted his hands from his left hip and pointed at the cheeseburgers and fries Joe had laid out on the table, fixing him with a dark glare.

“You said dinner, EP, brought you dinner.”

“Tryin’ to get me back in the 200 club like you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you been auditioning for the part of lardass of the group.”

“But last night - I thought you - 

“I thought, I  thought - you ain’t thought shit, and that’s the problem. I’m supposed to be shirtless on film tomorrow and you fixin’ to get me fat as a boarding house cat.”

Joe frowned, furrowing his brow for the split second it took him to plaster a smile back on and nod. Now he understood what was up Alma’s ass, and what was about to be up his too if he didn’t turn this around.

“Right, boss, my mistake, tell me what you want and I’ll go get it.”

“What I want, what I want. Ain’t nobody cares what I want, and that’s the goddamn problem. Save a whole lotta time and money if you just thought to ask first.” 

Elvis put his hands on his waist and cried out an inaudible growl to the ceiling. 

“Jus… just bring me a caesar salad. A big one.”

Joe hurried out and Elvis went over to cover up the burgers, but the smell was too tempting, so instead he sat down and began to devour them one after another, mumbling to himself in between bites.

“Goddamit, if I look fat tomorrow it’ll be Joe’s goddamn fuckin’ fault.”

There was a knock at the door, and he yelled for whoever it was to come in as he went to wash up.

“Joe told me to come get rid of the - uh - food tray.”

Charlie’s voice trailed off as Elvis emerged from the bathroom and followed Charlie’s eyes to the table and the plates that were empty, save for a handful of cold fries.

“Well, have at it - wait.”

Elvis stepped back and looked around, grabbing one of the guns from the night stand and put it in his belt. He had all this nervous energy running up and down his body, he needed to just get out of this room, out of this motel, get as far as possible to just breathe some fresh air and think. He snapped his fingers at Charlie.

“Grab Gee Gee, we’re going for a drive.”

Charlie’s face softened into a big goofy, excited grin. “Okee dokee artichokee, where we heading?”

“Anywhere that ain’t this goddamn motel, numb nuts.” Elvis started to head down the exterior stairs, running his hand over the warm, wrought iron bannister. He looked back over his shoulder and clapped.

“Bring the cigars, too, then meet me at the car. Chop chop.” 

A renewed sense of purpose guided his steps as Elvis walked down the corridor of motel rooms that lined the pool,and he ran his hands up and down the front of his shirt. He mulled over what he wanted to do that didn’t involve eating more hamburgers. Or eating anything. 

When he looked up, he realized he had stopped outside Ina’s room. There, through the curtain, he could see the back of her through the curtain where she sat on her bed, talking to someone on the phone. 

“No no no, Mickey, of course I understand. Yes, well, I don’t know, I think you have to have been on top to get back on top, but your meaning is not lost on me. I get it. Yes. Opportunity of a lifetime. I know. Elvis Elvis.  Don’t worry. I’m gonna go make it right, right now.”

She looked up at the ceiling and wiped the sides of her eyes, summoning a mask of quiet cheer Elvis recognized well as she clutched the phone tight. 

“Yes, no  - I’ll be a good girl, Mickey. I promise. I know, I know, no bread.”

He was transfixed, enjoying the power he felt watching her unaware, and pressed closer to the glass, careful not to draw attention to himself. A small front section of her long, flowing hair fell out from behind her ears and she absentmindedly began to twist it nervously. She looked like a fragile little girl, like a beautiful flower someone had stepped on. The sight of her anxiously talking away pulled on his heart strings.

He shook his head. What the fuck had happened? Why was she so angry at him?  He'd played the part of the funny, affable host from the minute they met, introducing her to the crew and having Gee Gee get her screwdrivers as they all yukked it up in the bar. He'd about busted his gut when she lobbed a handful of ice at Charlie and knocked him over the back of the couch. 

He stood there watching as her big brown eyes lit up while she told her agent how nice the desert was. He almost believed her. Goddamit, why couldn’t she just be a good girl and get along? She’d been sweet and flirty in make-up and then what, an hour or two later, her claws were out and she’d aimed them at him. 

He whistled and thought about the fickleness of women as he turned to walk the long way around the pool. 

Thirty seconds later he heard the thud of a door opening followed by Ina’s voice calling out for him.

Elvis stopped, his hands moved out as if to balance himself as he swiveled around, slowly, to face her. A sense of dread settling in his stomach. Up above him, he saw Charlie and Gee Gee making their way down the staircase, while to his left a group of crew members were heading for the pool. The smell of chlorine wafted through the open air hallway.

He cautiously trudged back toward the doorway to where Ina stood, each footfall a slow thump of his cowboy boot against the hard concrete sidewalk. 

“Oh good, I’m glad I caught you, Elvis.” She swallowed, there it was again, that cheerful mask settling over her face as she exhaled a nervous laugh. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

Elvis straightened up, looking around again before pulling on the red bandana at his throat. He definitely didn’t want to be alone with Ina. She was unpredictable and he couldn’t stand the awkward energy that flickered between them. However, he also didn’t want another public scene and he could already hear their names being whispered by some of the crew at the pool.

So he did what he always did with an audience, he mustered a wide, beaming smile and spoke in a nonchalant, cool voice:

“Hey honey, you ain’t gotta worry bout me, I’m all good. You get your beauty sleep and I’ll see you tamarra onset an - “

Ina’s lip trembled, she looked like she might fall apart at any moment.

Shit he thought, unable to stop himself from walking over to her and stroking her shoulder.

“There there, been a rough day. This desert heat, I tell ya what, baby, does things to ya head. Now go ahead and listen to ol’ Elvis -”

Ina put her hand over his where it squeezed her shoulder.

“Could we just talk - just for a moment?” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Alone. I -  I won’t take much time, I just - I’d like to apologize and clear the air if you’ll let me. Otherwise, otherwise I won’t be able to sleep and then you’ll be making love to a haggard old zombie first thing in the morning.”

Elvis' eyes softened and he looked around once more before nodding. “Ok.” 

As soon as the door closed he was an obedient puppy letting her lead him by the hand to sit on the bed, where he took off his cowboy hat and toyed with it in his lap. 

Ina stepped away, backing toward the dresser where she lifted herself to sit next to the TV, but then changed her mind. She felt like a ship adrift, unmoored and out of her comfort zone. Sitting and swinging her legs about was too casual, she decided, so she stood back up and swept the hair that had fallen out of her high ponytail behind her ears.

Just make it short, sweet, earnest, she reminded herself, you’re no stranger to eating humble pie. Indeed, Ina reflected on the number of times she had apologized unnecessarily just to smooth things over with her mother or sister, a producer, an ad executive. This was one of the first times she felt she actually had behaved badly and now she was lost for words.  If only there was a script for life. 

“I - um - thanks for seeing me - I - I - I.”

All the words left her head when she found Elvis’ dark blue eyes studying her beneath his long lashes. He was rotating his cowboy hat in his lap. The smell of the heavy floral cleaning products the maids had used lingered in the air, stronger now that the air conditioner cycled on with a heaving, mechanic whomp. She swallowed again, and counted to ten, trying to ignore the way the back of her neck seemed to prickle as a chill went down her spine. She steadied herself, forcing her eyes to connect with his. 

“Elvis, I am so very sorry. I mean it. I -  I - I - ’ve never lost it before onset, it is so unprofessional I can barely stand to look at myself.” 

She felt a release of tension as she watched his hands relax. He took a deep breath and stroked his beard.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Ina,  I been making two to three pictures a year since 1933. I can roll with the punches, ain’t nothing I can’t handle. ThoughI gotta admit you threw me off back there.” 

The register of his voice changed from rougher to softer as he looked down at the floor and then back up at Ina’s face. 

“Be honest, did I do anything to offend you or make you mad at me?”

His softer side was almost harder to withstand and his eyes seemed to penetrate her very being, seeking out the secrets she kept hidden in her heart. She shook it off with another nervous chuckle,

“No, no, this was 100% me. I’ve been so nervous about these love making shoots. Chuck’s is telling everyone back in Hollywood this is the first the first film with a sex scene - “

“Isn’t it?”

“Well, I mean, since the production code, maybe, but they’ve shot plenty of them. It’s just that the studio always pulls out at that last minute -”

Ina covered her mouth and gasped when she watched Elvis’ lip curl up at her words but said nothing. He didn’t need to. The glint in his eye said it all and when he waggled his eyebrows up and down Ina laughed out. She was grateful for the levity, it seemed to crack through Elvis’ cool bravada and made this conversation easier.

“Stop, you know what I mean.” 

She blushed, and looked out her window, watching as the silhouettes of two people walked by. It was getting dark, she needed to wrap it up. 

“But yes, today I was nervous, I haven’t been eating or sleeping much, but I promise you - “ 

Her voice wavered as she turned back to find his steady gaze. 

“ - um - no more fights, no more difficult behavior. I am so grateful for this opportunity to work with you and I just hope you can forgive me for my lapse of judgment.”

Elvis stood up, his fingers were once more busy fiddling with his cowboy hat and he spoke in a low whisper.

“Ok. I forgive you. So long as you really ain’t mad at me.”

The breath hitched in Ina’s throat when Elvis looked up at her, biting his lip in a way that made the top jut out a bit as he searched her face once more, as if she were a puzzle he needed to solve.

She gulped. “I - uh - I - no, I just need some sleep - I “

“Honey I can’t help feeling like you’re holding something back here, and if we’re gonna get along, I need you to be completely honest with me.”

Ina looked away. Damn him, he was like one of those fortune tellers back on Coney Island who she had believed as a kid. As a teenager she had learned the truth: they had no supernatural talents, they were just extremely gifted at reading their marks. Like Elvis was reading her right now.

“Oh, I may have been upset about something but it doesn’t matter, it was silly and stupid, like me. I - I was wrong, and I apologize. I’ll happily apologize to you in front of the whole crew tomorrow if you want. Really. If that is what it will take to make amends with you Mr. Presley.”

Elvis clenched his fists. 

“I don’t give a damn about a public apology or the crew or any of that. But I can’t bear it when a woman is sore at me and won’t say why. Ticks me off to no end.”

Tension hung in the air, and Ina sighed. Recounting the whole ordeal made it seem so juvenile now, though it still stung.

“I - I am, I heard some of your friends talking. They -”

“Which friends?”

“Jerry, Jerry and Charlie. I told you, it’s like high school and I can’t believe I let them upset me.”

“Well now you started, better lay it all out for me. Go on.”

“I - I well, I heard them laughing about how you had said I looked like - like drag queen that needed a shave. And they were calling me Groucho and saying I had big feet.”

Ina let her shoulders drop and forced a smile, but she couldn’t stop her hand from pulling on the necklace at her chest.

“Ha, actually now that I say it is kind of funny, you see I - um - I usually have a great sense of humor. Any of my friends would tell you. Some of them are drag queens, actually. They’d probably feel more slighted being compared to me. Your boys just, they  - they just caught me right before I was filming my first nude scene and well - “ 

Ina’s voice trailed off as she watched Elvis get up and pace towards the bathroom growling. 

“Those fucking nitwits, pulling a stunt like that and gummin up tha works -” he turned and his face fell at the pained look on Ina’s face. “You know I never said nothin’ like that.” 

Ina quickly shook her head, summoning the calm veneer that usually came so easy to her. She immediately regretted telling Elvis, now she felt as raw as she did after she had a full waxing appointment at the salon.

In her heart she knew he was lying, she knew from the way he had grimaced, albeit it briefly, on set when she’d said she wasn’t a drag queen. 

Yet there was something earnest and pleading in his eyes that made her question her own grip on reality. This got worse when he bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling, all vulnerable and apologetic, as if searching for the right thing to say. It made her stomach flip up into her throat. Then looked at her, his eyes wide with a newfound warmth as he sought a connection from across the room, as if he were seeing her for the first time. Ina knew right then that she needed to get him out before anything changed.

“Oh, yeah, sure, I know. And, well  it doesn’t matter anyway, right? I mean it’s none of my business what you think of me - like I said, I knew some knockout drag queens, so it’s a compliment really. Ha so - “

Elvis stode over as she spoke and grabbed her hands, his thumb delicately soothing the top of her knuckles. The spicy smell of his aftershave entered her nostrils as he spoke in a low, soft voice.

“Here’s the thing now, Iny Beany, I just need you to know though that I didn’t say none a that. Ya right, them boys still in high school, and they been playing pranks like we’re still in high school. I guar-an-TEE you they knew the assistant had just called for you, and they set that whole thing up to ruin my first sex scene shoot. Have half a mind to fire 'em. They need to learn some goddamn respect."

Ina found herself transfixed, unable to step away or pull her hands from his. She looked him over. He somehow looked like a cowboy who had let a bunch of drag queens dress him. 

He wore a fresh pair of dark green slacks, a thick leather belt and a long sleeve white linen shirt. Over his hands sat several jewel-encrusted rings matched by the two necklaces that lay underneath his red bandana, tied much like a silk ascot through a cravat. His foundation make-up was impeccable, and his hair was styled in a high quiff perfectly slicked back above his forehead. It made him look cavalier and polished at the same time. 

Then there was the way his smokey eye makeup was now smudged around his waterline made him look even more ruggedly attractive. Sweat glistened underneath his beard, almost like glitter.  There, in the dim light of her motel room he looked like the prettiest cowboy she had ever seen.

“Know what I mean?”

Ina shook her head, realizing she’d gotten caught up staring at his scruffy chin and lost track of what he was saying.

“Um, I’m sorry, what did you say?”

A sly grin tweaked up the corners of his lips.

“I said, you cain’t listen to a word outta those boys' moufs, ‘specially Charlie. His elevator don’t go all the way up, if you take my meaning.” 

Elvis stepped in closer to her, cautiously, waiting to see if she stepped away or flinched.  But it was all Ina could do to just keep breathing, each stroke of Elvis' thumb over her hand now sent a bolt of electricity down her chest.

“How I could I say something like that about you, Iny? Ya so beautiful, I could barely look at you too long before turning into mush.”

Ina rolled her eyes, but she could feel her own resolve waver as his hand moved to her hips and a blush crept over her face.

“Stop, you don’t have to lie to me.”

He shook his head, his nose tickling over hers.

“How can you say that Iny Meany? You have no idea, no idea what you do to me.”

Ina’s heart skipped a beat when she felt his thumb at the indent of her girdle. The air between their bodies seemed to crackle now with heat, and he pulled her closer, nuzzling his nose over hers. A tear rolled down her face and he lifted his finger to catch it.

“Ssshhhh, s’ok baby, s’ok. I got you. And I promise ain’t no one gonna talk like that about you again.”

He pressed his cheek against hers and she pushed back,willfully embracing the harsh scruff of his beard. She could feel herself teetering on the precipice of something dangerous. If she crossed this line with Elvis it would change the dynamic of their work together, it would change her reputation. She had vowed to herself she wouldn’t be susceptible to his charms, him, of all people. He was so obvious, so cliche. And yet here she was, nuzzling her nose back along his.

Emboldened, Elvis gently pressed his lips to her skin, peppering her jaw with light kisses. Ina eagerly moved to give him access to her neck and he instantly took the hint and suckled at her nape, pausing to grin as she moaned out a high, breathy unladylike moan.

Her chest heaved as their lips met and the faint aroma of mustard filled Ina’s nostrils.

“Oh my god, you taste like hamburger.”

Elvis chuckled, unsure of himself for a moment. Ina enjoyed watching him become self conscious.

"I’m sorry baby, you want me to go brush my teeth?”

She shook her head, pulling him closer and speaking between kisses.

 “No - mmmm - it’s amazing — mmm - haven’t had a mmamburger in months.”

Elvis let out a nervous laugh. 

“Ok, ya kook, I’ll be sure and eat hamburger every day.” 

"Ha! I'm gonna hold you to that, Presley."

His fingers brushed over her thighs as he lifted her onto the dresser and Ina trembled.

“You ok? Just say the word, and I’ll stop.”

She shook her head, stopping was the last thing on her mind. Though she suddenly thought of crew members at the pool who’d seen her call Elvis into her room to apologize.

“I wonder what everyone outside thinks we’re doing in here.”

“Hmmm, whatever they’re thinking, I guarantee it's not nearly as good as what I’m thinking.”

“Elvis - I - I don’t want to have sex.”

He arched his eyebrow.

“Whoo now, who said anything about sex?”

“I mean, of course I want to have sex with you.”

He stoked her thighs, a faint smile on his face.

"Relax Iny, we’re just having some fun. Don’t overthink it. We ain’t gonna do nothin’ you don’t wanna do.”

Ina released a nervous giggle. “OK, you see, I um, well, actually the thing is that I sometimes break out when I - I do it.”

“Really? You know that Max Factor stuff will cover anything.”

“Ha! I know - I just think tonight, no matter what I say later, we should just keep it simple.”

“I gotcha Iny girl. Sweet. Simple.”

Ina’s pulse quickened at the way he leaned into her chest, his hands worked up from her thighs. She felt like a giddy teenager as she smiled gleefully into his face, her right hand fiddling with his ear.

“You have a great earlobe, you know that? I can see why you’re a movie star.”

“Huh. That right? Cuz of my earlobe?”

He leaned in and kissed the top of her nose.

“Oh yeah, it's very photogenic. I see why this is the only part of you in frame during the sex scene. I mean the rest could as ugly as Boris Karloff -” Ina waved her other hand in front of Elvis face. “But this lobe, right here, it’s a million dollar lobe.” 

Elvis chuckled. “That right?”

“Uh huh. I hope you have it insured - oh god.” 

Elvis' right hand moved over her breast, flicking her nipple. 

“Hmm, well, maybe I should stop whateva this is and go call the colonel, get him right on that, uh huh.”

He moved as if to leave, smirking at how quickly Ina pulled him back into her arms.

“Don’t go.” 

She squeaked out, voice cracking.

“You sure? You don want me to fetch a rattlesnake to kiss instead? See if you like making love to his earlobe?”

“Stop.” 

Ina swatted him, straightening the line of his bandana. 

“Please don’t repeat what I said earlier, I was tired and nervous and upset and I hate myself for that whole scene. I really am sorry, Presley.”

“I know, baby, I know. I'm just teasing.”

He pressed his lip son hers once more and Ina rocked forward into him, following the slow, tender rhythm of Elvis’ body. She felt like a buoy, still unmoored and adrift in the ocean, but now she didn’t want to come into shore. She wanted to stay like this, swaying back and forth to the ebb of Elvis’ tide,  delighting in the wet smack of Elvis’ lips every time they smashed into hers. Again and again.

Her whole body buzzed when his fingers trailed down to her hem and absentmindedly began to work their way under her dress. He had notched himself between her legs, fitting snugly against her knee caps. She made a small squeak of surrender as she opened her hips to bring him in closer. The taste of onions and pepsi and meat filled her mouth as he took her with the tip of his tongue, slowly owning and consuming her completely. 

Elvis moaned into her and deepened their kiss.

Ina lost herself in the sweet supple cushion of his lips. His hands moved over her bosom,  fanning the spark in her belly into a flame. Then his fingers moved under her skirt and feathered over the warmth of her panties. Ina felt the bulge begin to swell at her thigh and then Elvis jerked back.

Every cell in her body cried out to pull him back into her embrace and then until he was inside her and they were melting into each other. Vows and boundaries be damned. Thank god he had some sense of self control.

“Whooa, whoa whoa.” He muttered slowly, almost painfully.

Ina nodded, licking her lips as she met his eyes.

“You ok?’

“Yeah, you?”

Elvis took a deep breath. “Course, honey, I - I - I just think we better put the breaks on for tonight.”

“Yeah, sure, no. Totally. This was exactly what I wanted.”

He wiped his mouth, shooting her an impish smile, like he knew exactly what she wanted.

“Guess I should clear out, huh?”

“You don’t have to leave, I mean, I enjoy your company. Is what I mean. But if you are looking to get lucky, then yes, I suppose you should find one of those extras you've been playing patty cake with.”

“Huh, okay, well I'll be on my way then. Catch ya later.” 

But he didn't move, just stayed there hovering above her. His forehead leaning into her as he pushed in even closer, pressing the air out of her lungs.

“You do have a reputation to keep up. I understand.”

"Mhmmmm."

Elvis shook his head and went to sit on her bed, up against the head board.

“Look, I'm willing to put my reputation aside, jus for one night. I promise, no funny business. Clothes stay on.” 

He smirked.

“Unless you’d feel more comfortable without your dress on.”

Ina hesitantly moved to perch next to him. She could still taste the mix of Elvis’ salty sweat on her tongue as she wiped her raw lips.

“That’s awfully accommodating of you, Presley.”

“What can I say, Iny Beany, I’m an open minded guy. Always say, if a girl wants to take her own dress off, who am I to say she can’t?’

“Well, if it’s all the same to you I think I’ll keep mine on. For now. There’s still time for you to make an exit.”

“Aw, now shut up with that exit junk already and get in here.”

Elvis pulled Ina down into the curve of his arm, and she sighed, embracing the cozy warmth of his body and rubbing her hand over the trim stretch of his stomach as he spoke to her in a soft, friendly voice.

"Alright now, I want you to tell me everything there is to know about you. How did  the hell you end up in a god forsaken Elvis Presley picture, huh?”

“Hmmm, poor life choices? But Elvis, I thought you liked this film? I thought you were the one who made it happen.”

“Aw, well, sure, the first script was pret-tee fantastic. It was gritty and had guts, ya know, but then these damn producers been wittlin' it away to nothing, man. Chuck cornered me this afternoon once you'd left and started in on nagging me to sing the title song.”

“You don’t want to sing? Just the title? it would be so good.”

“So you like the way I sing, Iny?” 

Elvis’ eyes danced but then he remembered what they were talking about and was solemn once more. 

“Yeah, naw man, that would set it up as another Presley musical, the next they’ll be trying to get me to sing to my horse. No self respecting cowboy sings, you ever heard of a singing cowboy? Never seen John Wayne sing.”

“OK, sure, but what about Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hank Williams was the Driftless Cowboy, right?” Elvis leveled her with his blue eyes and pinched her side. 

“Hmmm - guess you got me there. But it’s 1968, I’d like to see Gene Autry sell a movie in today’s economy. My boy my boy. Today it ain't no joke. Can you see him in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly?”

Ina tilted her head in agreement back onto Elvis' shoulder, she felt the same way she did sinking into a pair of comfy, worn-in slippers, and founding his chest as relaxed and welcoming,

“Trust me, I get it, I’m just grateful I don’t have to do a rape scene in this film.”

He squeezed Ina tighter, kissing her cheek.

“Yeah, me too, honey, real grateful. Boy. Don’t know why anyone want ta see that.”

 “The old west ain’t what it used to be.”

“You can say that again.”

Elvis' arms closed around Ina tighter as they murmured the hours away, comparing diet pills, LA taco huts and favorite movies while their limbs easily intertwined into one another. The closest he got to undressing her was the moment around midnight when he stealthily undid her pony tail and played with her hair while she pretended to be miffed. Then he kissed her forehead and told her he had done her a favor, because it looked better this way, and she should just be a good girl and do as he said. Which got him a light slap and a big “HA!”

They spent the next hour enjoying a playful, cozy respite together in the dim orange glow of Ina’s hotel room. It was well past one in the morning when he gave her a parting kiss that turned into a series of parting kisses before he snuck back up to his suite. 

Shooting began the next day at 7 a.m., and you could have knocked the director, Chuck, over with a long, pink gaudy boa feather as he found Elvis and Ina in good spirits ready to work. They exchanged playful barbs and their onscreen chemistry sizzled when they went through each sequence, pausing between takes for Ina’s chest to be spritzed while another batch of assistants dabbed Elvis’ forehead with dry unused coffee filters. The industry’s secret weapon against perspiration.

Elvis found Ina in her dressing room during a break and their lips met with stifled giggles as they kissed now with away from the ever present surveillance of the crew, laughing and talked into each other’s mouths.

“Oh my god, now you taste like bacon. I swear Elvis, you’re gonna have me off my diet and then I’ll swell up like a balloon and then Charro! will be a very different film about a cowboy and his pregnant saloon madam.”

“Baby, you gotta let yourself have one hamburger now and then, trust me now, I been doing this longer than you. It will help the cravings.”

Ina kept her mouth shut as she calculated that she had been in this business just as long as he had, since she began modelling at 15 in 1955.

“Ok. I give in. I have no willpower around you. I will have one hamburger this week.”

“Tonight, honey. Imma have you for dinner.” He winked. “Over for dinner, I mean.  I’ll have one a my guys come get you and bring you up to my room later. ”

“Ok. Dinner. Tonight. Your room.” She grinned as she chased the taste of bacon on his tongue and the salty scent of his body as it enveloped her until a knock on the door brought them back into their roles on set as Jess and Tracy.

That night Elvis went through his usual routine after a shoot, which began with a shower to wash off the desert and the dust and the sweat of the set off his body. He took extra care in how he dressed, selecting a light blue dress shirt and a white suit, capping off his outfit with a small black porkpie hat. He doused himself in aftershave and the smell of Old Spice smacked Joe in the face when he came in to set up Elvis’ calls to Memphis and LA.

Once Elvis hung up his phone he leaned over and banged on the wall for Joe to come back in.

“You want me to get that sweet little Mexican gal boss? Alma?”

“Did I tell you to do that? That gal ain’t nothing but a big phony, naw man. Wait for me to tell you what to do, son."

Elvis stood up and went to slather more after shave on, exchanging one ring for another at his toiletry bag.

"Go down stairs and invite Ina up to join me for dinner.”

Joe let out a loud cackle. “What, Groucho?”

Elvis paused, taking in the look of disbelief on Joe’s face. His heart sank and he rubbed his hands over one another as he remembered how they all were howling at his jokes about her a few nights ago. 

He hadn’t even really meant it. He’d just said those things after watching Alma and Flor look at Ina with envy during rehearsals. All he had wanted was to put them at ease, make them understand he was attracted to them. Saying what he thought they wanted to hear. But then the boys had chimed in and now they all thought she was a dog. 

Elvis forced a low chuckle and ran his hand through his hair.

“Nah, man, not Ina - I meant Flor. Goddamn it,  this picture messin’ with my head.”  

He swallowed hard, thinking of the way Ina's beautiful big brown eyes looking up at him. They their legs had seemed to fit together, the way conversation had seemed to flow effortlessly. He smiled to himself thinking of the way she had blushed when he snuck into her dressing room. How her breasts had felt beneath as they ran their love scenes. He pushed away the pang of guilt for now and tamped down his desire to hold her once more. Maybe he'd sneak down to her room later if he could get away. But for now he had an image uphold. These guys looked up to him, and his control over them as their boss rested on the how cool they thought he was.

He snapped his finger at Joe. 

“But I don’t wanna hear y’all calling her that no more. Tell the others. Like I said this morning, y’all shitwads talking like that is what got me in trouble in the first place.”

And with that, Elvis spent another night surrounded by people and utterly alone.

I don't really think I did Ina justice here, look at how great they looked together. We were robbed of their sex scenes.....

taglist:

@i-r-i-n-a-a @ab4eva @eliseinmemphis @richardslady121 @artlover8992 @ashtag6887 @karolshungary @j-v-9-2 @waiting4brucewayne2adoptme @notstefaniepresley @dollette02 @dkayfixates @everythingelvispresley @velvetelvis @moonchild-daniella @lialocklear @obsessionisthecure @louisejoy86 @arrolyn1114 @literally-just-elvis-fics

i don't really have a taglist for one-shots and I apologize if you don't want to be tagged, just let me know and I'll take you off.

[hooked-on-elvis]

"HARBOR LIGHTS": The first song ever taped by Elvis Presley (officially)

PICTURES: [1-2] Elvis Presley, December 27, 1954. Photo by Lou Lowery.

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Elvis had paid for two private sessions at the Sun Studio, when he would cut two acetates with the songs "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartache Begins" — the actual date is not certain but it happened sometime in 1953 — and again Presley would go back to Sun Studio on January 4, 1954, to record "I’ll Never Stand In Your Way" and "It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You," all ballads.

"In fact, he sang very little but ballads, and to the untrained ear, we now know, he sounded like plenty of other local C&W singers. To Marion [Keisker], though, there was something there — a stronger yearning? A deeper passion? A greater determination? Whatever it was, she wanted to keep an eye on it; after the kid had made his acetate she made herself a note: “Good ballad singer. Hold." — Ernst Jorgensen on "Elvis Presley: A Life In Music"

A while after the private recordings, on June 26, 1954, Elvis was officially invited to a recording session at Sun Studio. A phone call was made by Marion Keisker (Sun Studio's secretary), and soon after that Elvis walked back in the studio and he started the official recordings singing in the same familiar way, not venturing in something out of extraordinary. Nothing came out that was really interesting to tape, but still certain there might be something good ahead, a while after that Elvis came back to Sun Studio once more and that's when the ballad called "Harbor Lights" was covered by him.

The song was originally recorded by Roy Fox & his Orchestra with vocal by Barry Gray, in London, on January 29, 1937. You can listen to the original record of the tune below.

Elvis recorded "Harbor Lights" on July 5, 1954, during his first commercial recording session.

According to Ernst Jorgensen, it may have been the first song Elvis recorded. The first song put on tape. The order for the official recordings during that session at Sun Studio would have been, "Harbor Lights" and "I Love You Because", nothing that really caused a big impression on Sam Phillips, but then during a pause from the recordings, Elvis, Scotty Moore and Bill Black were just joking around, having fun playing Arthur's Cudrup tune their own way, without even realizing they were doing something that finally got Sam Phillips really excited about. That's when "That's All Right" came to be and then, during the same session, there was "Blue Moon of Kentucky", both songs, as soon as released, instant hits by this new Memphis guy with a funny/weird/unique name.

Opposite to the hits "That's All Right", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and even the ballad "I Love You Because", Sam Phillips considered the recording of "Harbor Lights" unworthy of release, according to Jorgensen once more, because "they couldn’t get the Hawaiian-inspired pop song right" (Look at Hawaii being there for Elvis since the very beginning of his career... in a certain way. Interesting). In 1976, tho, RCA released the master of "Harbor Lights" on the LP "Elvis – A Legendary Performer, Volume 2", for the first time.

I don't know about you but this is surely one of my all-time-favorites Elvis song. ♥ Thank God it came to the light of day.

MASTER (TAKE 3):

Music by Hugh Williams (the pseudonym of Austrian composer Will Grosz) and lyrics by Northern Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy. Elvis recorded the songs during studio sessions for Sun Records between July 5–6, 1954, in Memphis, Tennessee.

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SOME OTHER TAKES:

TAKES 1-2 and 3/MASTER

TAKE 4:

TAKES 5-8:

LPS/CDS WHERE THE TUNE CAN BE FOUND:

Elvis - A Legendary Performer, Vol. 2 (1976); Greatest Moments in Music (1979); The King of Rock’n’Roll – The Complete 50’s Masters (1992); A Golden Celebration (1998); Sunrise (1999); Today Tomorrow and Forever (2002); Elvis at Sun (2004); A Boy From Tupelo (2012) - FTD; For LP Fans Only (2018) - FTD.

PICTURE: Elvis and The Blue Moon Boys (Bill Black and Scotty Moore), in 1954.

Sources: "Elvis Presley: A Life In Music" by Ernst Jorgensen and Peter Guralnick; Wikipedia; www.elvis100percent.com.

[headfullofpresley]

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬

Pairing: Elvis Presley x reader x Ann-Margret

Word count: 4,4K

Summary: Elvis is back in LA after spending his days off in Memphis and you and your girlfriend happily welcome him home.

Warnings: pretty much porn without plot, poly relationship, smut; f on f, oral (f. and m. receiving), vaginal penetration, unprotected sex.

A/N: got distracted writing about ann and then realised el needed attention too. LMAO nah but srsly, i want them both. :/ the ending is lame, but whatevurrr. ☻

masterlist

Your feet moved swiftly and silently as you tiptoed from your car to the front door of Elvis’ Perugia Way house, trying to ignore the eerie sounds of crickets hidden in the bushes as you rumbled through your purse to find the keys.

You didn’t know why you were so nervous – your partners were inside and expecting you, and you had been through this ritual countless of times before. You blamed it on the fact that you thought a car had followed you here – which wasn’t the case, you were just paranoid – and the damn insects in the trees getting louder and louder.

The adrenaline rushing through your veins wasn’t because you were part of a relationship that was considered sinful or unhealthy to most people. It was because it was the biggest secret you ever kept, a secret that could not only ruin your entire career – and life – but also that of two other people if the public ever got word of it.

You couldn’t afford to get caught.

The only people that knew about you being in a relationship with Elvis and Ann was Elvis’ entourage and you all wanted to keep it that way.

But it seemed like Elvis hadn’t had the time to fill everyone in on your situation.

 

You were as quiet as a mouse as you fished the keys out of your purse and unlocked the front door, stepping inside the house. It was dark inside and seeing it was in the middle of the night, you knew everyone aside from Elvis and Ann were sleeping so you stepped out of your flats and left them by the door. Keeping your keys into a closed fist to not let them jiggle, you slowly creeped your way past the living area and down to the hall where the bedrooms were located.

You were completely focused on getting to where you needed to go, excited to see Elvis again after he had spend a few weeks at home in Memphis. You didn’t hear the soft footsteps following you down the hall, but you had a near heart attack as your arm was suddenly grabbed and you were yanked backwards, the person who grabbed you turning you around.

A sense of panic washed over you and you had let out a bloodcurdling scream before you could stop yourself, looking at the dark silhouette in front of you. The man was still holding onto your arm, asking you who you were and how you got in the house.

The door of Elvis’ bedroom swung open about five seconds after you had probably woken up the entire house and as the hallway lit up, the broad shouldered stranger in front of you looked between you and Elvis with wide eyes and shock written on his features. The moment Elvis started laughing, a giggling Ann-Margret peeking over his shoulder, your arm was released immediately.

“Damn, Jerry! You nearly gave the poor girl a heart attack!”

The still unknown man to you that had grabbed you, and apparently went by the name of Jerry, looked at you. He recognized you from movies he had seen but he did not say anything. It was only his first night at the Perugia house after he went back to work for Elvis again, he wasn’t completely caught up with the other man’s private relationships.

Ann arrived at the house the same time they did tonight and while that left him nearly speechless, he was completely flabbergasted now.

Both you and Ann were well known names in the industry and ofcourse Jerry had visited movie sets alongside Elvis, but he never expected the both of you to actually be… here. In the house. Right in front of his nose.

“I-I’m sorry!” he blurted out, looking at Elvis and hoping he wouldn’t be fired and sitting on a plane back to Memphis by sunrise. Elvis was still laughing, landing a firm hand on Jerry’s shoulder as you sneaked into the raven haired man’s bedroom.

“Get some sleep, Jer. There’s no danger here,” Elvis smirked as he stepped backwards into the room and slowly closed the door.

Jerry caught sight of you and Ann sharing a kiss and he stood there for a little bit as the door was closed in his face before he went to his own bedroom.

Must be nice to be Elvis Presley.

 

“You could’ve warned me that you brought a new guy!” you whispered through gritted teeth to Elvis, a smile on your face. He chuckled and walked over to you and Ann, the two of you still in embrace as she was running her hands through your hair to tug it behind your shoulders and your arms were wrapped around her middle.

“He forgot to tell him about us,” your girlfriend chuckled as she let go of your hair to wind her arms around your shoulders to press her chest against yours, keeping you close. You had seen her this morning since you lived together – the public considered you “as close as sisters”; if only they knew – but you could never keep your hands off each other. “But Jerry’s nice, don’t worry,”

Both being born and growing up in Sweden, the two of you hit it off right away when you met at an audition for a movie that neither of you got. It didn’t take long before you fell in love and taking the jump, you decided to just tell her. Fully prepared to be rejected and never see her again, she took you by surprise as she told you she felt the same.

When Ann met Elvis about a year after you and her got in a relationship, she couldn’t be resisted by his charm and kindness – and gorgeous face. She insisted that the two of you would meet and you were happy to, falling for the man just as hard as she did.

Sharing a bed with different kind of women wasn’t foreign to Elvis, but when it came to relationships, he was a one-girl kinda guy. But he wasn’t strong enough to fight his feelings and he fell for the both of you, completely giving in to what was happening between the three of you when you and Ann made the suggestion for him to join you in your relationship.

Elvis walked over to you with a nod of his head, pecking your lips as he lightly tapped your behind. “I’ll explain it to him tomorrow, he won’t talk about this. I trust him,” you nodded at his words, watching him plant a kiss on Ann’s lips before giving her the same light tap he gave you. “I’m going to take a shower- don’t have too much fun without me,”

Ann grinned as she looked at Elvis who grabbed his towel from the bed he had thrown on there earlier, before his shower got interrupted by your screams. “We can’t make any promises,” she teased, and you looked over your shoulder, laughing as Elvis gave you a feigned angry glare before disappearing into the ensuite with a laugh.

 

Elvis took fast showers most of the time, but he wasn’t fast enough for you and Ann. Even though the two of you lived together, you lived very busy lives with a fast paced career, so intimate moments were to be cherished.

In other words – you and her would take any chance to jump each other’s bones when the opportunity presented itself.

Although you were excited to make love to Elvis again too, you and Ann were too impatient to wait for him.

Pieces of clothing were flung across the room as she had pushed you down on Elvis’ bed with a laugh, crawling on top of you to kiss you. You moaned softly at the taste of her cherry lip balm, sucking on her lower lip as her perked nipples caressed yours. Arousal was already coursing through your veins and Ann was quick to kiss her way down to the curve of your neck, her tongue rolling against your collarbones before dragging it down in between your breasts and to your stomach.

Closing your legs a little and lifting your feet midway in the air, you allowed her to take your panties off, which she threw over her shoulder before spreading your legs in front of her again. With her back arched and her ass up, she didn’t waste any time as she went right in and kept her eye contact with you the entire time as she ran her tongue through your folds, wrapping her glossy lips around your clit to suck on it lightly.

The sight was enough to make you gasp, your hands grabbing onto the sheets as you had propped your elbows into the mattress, making sure you had the perfect view of your girlfriend going down on you.

“You taste so sweet, my princess,” she whispered with a small smirk on her face, her tongue circling your clit before she dipped it down, teasing your entrance. You giggled softly at the words that she spoke in Swedish, something you and her always did when it was just the two of you, but with the way she was fluttering her eyelashes, you couldn’t stop your hips from trying to follow her movements.

“O-Oh, fuck, Annie!” you moaned a little louder as she dipped her tongue inside of you, pushing it in as far as she could while wrapping an arm around one of your thighs so her fingers could rub small circles on your clit. Ann hated whenever someone called her Annie, but whenever you did it during sex, it only riled her up even more. Pulling her tongue out of you with a soft giggle, she gathered more of your arousal on her wet muscle before flicking it against your clit at a rapid pace. She had moved her hand further up, keeping you still so she could do her thing by pressing her hand against your lower abdomen.

 

Elvis moved as quick as lightning as he heard you moaning, turning off the shower and ruffling the towel through his hair a little before he quickly patted himself semi-dry. Discarding the towel in the laundry basket, he didn’t even bother to fix his hair and made his way back into the bedroom as quick as he could.

“Starting without me, huh? Naughty little girls,” he grinned as moved closer to the side of the bed- you could feel the mattress on your right dipping as he got on top of it on his knees, his cock right in your face as you turned your head to look at him.

“That’s what you get, slow poke,” you smiled playfully at him as you looked up, trying to keep your voice steady which was simply impossible with the way your girlfriend was humming seductively against your clit. Elvis chuckled and placed one hand on the headboard of the bed, his other wrapping around his cock to pump himself in his fist before he allowed you to replace his hand with yours.

He made sure to situate himself as close to you as possible so the position would be comfortable for you. Even if you would be twisted into some crazy position, you wouldn’t care- it wouldn’t be the first time and you loved feeling the weight of his cock on your tongue.

He grinned down at you as you looked up at him while slowly swirling your tongue around his tip, moaning softly at the taste of his pre cum. If Ann wasn’t eating you out as if you’d be her last meal right now, you would’ve teased Elvis a little more, but you were just too turned on. He didn’t complain at all when you wrapped your lips around the head of his cock and took him deeper into your mouth, a deep moan rolling off his tongue.

It didn’t take you three long to fall into the comfortable rhythm that felt natural to you. As you were sucking him off while fondling his balls gently, he ran his hand down Ann’s back and over the curve of her ass, slipping his fingers in between her thighs. Her tongue came to a stop as Elvis sunk two digits knuckle deep inside of her, gasping as she looked at him with needy eyes.

“Don’t stop lickin’ that pretty pussy, Ammo,” he grinned at her, pulling his fingers back though just as she thought he was going to pull out completely, he shoved them back inside of her. She let out a strangled moan as she leaned down again to go back to eating you out- this time even more determinedly than before. Wanting you to feel what she was feeling, she ran two of her digits through your folds to gather some arousal on them before slowly sinking them inside of you.

You moaned lewdly around Elvis’ length, your toes curling as you screwed your eyes shut. The feeling of Ann pumping her fingers into you made you pick up your pace as well, sucking Elvis off so hungrily drool was dribbling down your chin.

Elvis was moaning and grunting, trying his best not to thrust into your mouth at full force- with you moaning around his length and Ann’s face contorted into pleasure while your arousal glistened on the tip of her nose, he was close to coming undone and although he had no problems getting hard again after climaxing with you two in the room, he had other plans.

 

You barely registered what was happening as Elvis’ cock slipped out of your mouth and he removed his fingers out of Ann, bending down to kiss you sloppily while you came on your girlfriend’s tongue.

One of your hands flew into Elvis’ hair as you cried out in his mouth, your other hand entertwining with Ann’s that she held out to you. She squeezed your hand lovingly as she raised her head, moaning softly at the feeling of your muscles contrasting around her digits rapidly.

“Did it feel good, baby?” she whispered with a sweet smile on her face as she let go of your hand and moved beside you on the bed. You nodded as Elvis pulled away from the kiss, allowing you to plant a kiss in Ann’s neck as she held out her fingers that were covered with your slick in front of his face. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his lips around the digits, tongue eagerly lapping them clean.

He grunted, teasingly but softly biting Ann’s fingers. She laughed softly and you pulled your face out of her neck, exchanging a look with Elvis. Before the other female could protest – which she definitely wasn’t planning to do – you had her underneath you on the bed.

“My pretty girls,” Elvis said lowly as he moved behind you and in between Ann’s legs, a proud smile raising the corners of his mouth. You had your hands placed on either side of Ann’s head as you hovered above her, looking over your shoulder as your girlfriend gasped when Elvis run his tip through her folds before rubbing feather light circles on her clit.

The skin on skin contact made both of them moan softly and the sound made your heart leap against your ribcage.

It wasn’t just about sex with these two- you truly loved them more than anything in the world, and you knew the feeling was mutual. Ann told you she loved you every single day, either before leaving the house or over the phone, and Elvis usually showed it with gestures like giving gifts or asking if you had eaten enough and were taking care of yourself.

Their love languages were different from each other and from yours, but still the three of you were completely in sync.

In and out of the bedroom.

Elvis winked at you as he aligned himself at Ann’s entrance, biting his lip as he slowly pushed himself into her. You smiled as he grabbed your ass with one hand, kneading the flesh with his large palm; it made you arch your back a little as you turned your head back to look at the girl underneath you.

“Relax, beautiful,” you whispered to her as you noticed her eyes were squeezed shut, lips parted as staggered breaths left her. You knew exactly what she was going through- you always needed a minute to get used to Elvis filling you up too, no matter how many times he’s been inside of you. “It’s gonna feel so good in a minute, you know that- kiss me, princess,”

Her eyes fluttered open as Elvis bottomed out inside of her, the sound of you and Ann using those cute pet names with each other making his cock twitch inside of her. Ann’s hands cupped your face, immediately kissing you to take her mind off the light sting and you hummed softly in her mouth as you pressed your chest against hers a little more.

She pulled back from your kiss, moaning as she looked over your shoulder to meet Elvis’ eyes. “Fuck me, Elvis,” she whispered breathlessly to him and he smirked, pulling half way out of her before he rammed himself back inside. Ann gasped loudly as she gripped onto your shoulders, a string of moaned curses rolling off her tongue.

The longer and harder she was fucked into the mattress, the more turned on you got. Her hands were everywhere- roaming down your arms, up and down your back and squeezing at your ass desperately. Her mouth would find your nipples now and then as your back would arch a little further and she made sure to give it enough attention by licking, biting and sucking your skin.

Elvis kept getting distracted by your ass and the way he could see your arousal practically dripping down the inside of your thighs. He knew how this worked- and so did you.

Yours and Ann’s boyfriend didn’t really have a time frame, he didn’t count down the seconds or minutes on how long he was fucking who. He just did what he felt like doing, but he always made sure both his girls got the equal amount of attention.

Pulling out of Ann, he slowly pushed himself inside of you for the first time- the deed was a little easier since his cock was covered in Ann’s slick and you were so turned on that it felt like your entire body was set aflame. The stretch was painful for a second, but you didn’t have the patience for him to go slow right now- looking over your shoulder as Ann spread your ass cheeks apart with an excited giggle, Elvis could see in your eyes exactly what you wanted.

He moaned deeply as he thrusted into you, hard and fast like you were silently begging for. With Ann’s mouth still attached to your chest, you couldn’t keep your eyes open and Elvis took the opportunity to grab onto your hair when you threw your head back in your neck, tugging softly on the makeshift ponytail he swiftly created.

“Goddamnit,” he grunted, looking at you and Ann through half lidded eyes. “I wish I could fuck the both of you at the same time,”

Both you and Ann wished the same and although that unfortunately was impossible- Elvis had found a pretty good alternative the first time he fucked his girls in this position. He’d switch between the two of you and since he never gave either of you a warning or whatsoever, it was a surprise every time he’d pull out of you to thrust into Ann, or vice versa.

You loved this position, but you were feeling the effects of a long day on set and you were so sensitive that every time Elvis thrusted into you, it made tears pool in your lash line. Though still turned on, you needed a minute.

But just because you needed rest didn’t mean you were out of the game- moving off of Ann and laying next to her on the bed, you smiled and pecked her lips. You could see Elvis was close and you wanted to get your girlfriend to float onto that soft, pink little cloud you had done earlier because of her.

 

Propping yourself up on your elbow, you caressed your fingertips down her stomach as you kissed down her jawline, making her tilt her head as soon as she felt your lips in her neck. Your hand wandered down lower, fingers easily finding her clit as Elvis grabbed her thighs to keep her legs spread and to keep her in place as she arched her back a little.

Your boyfriend felt his orgasm fast approaching, but he felt bad for you. You had no problems with the current position you found yourself in, but you should’ve known that Elvis wasn’t letting you off the hook so easily- he prodded his hand in between your thighs, forcing them to open up and before you could stop him, he already had two of his long fingers sliding into you.

A confident smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as you pulled your head out of Ann’s neck and looked at him, moaning out his name.

“Wanna cum together,” he told you with a wink, making you let out a little chuckle as you tried your best to not halt the movements of your fingers that were bringing Ann closer to the edge as well as Elvis’ cock.

 

It didn’t take you three long to do what Elvis wanted- he was quick to pull himself out of Ann and his fingers out of you, spilling his load onto her lower abdomen, and aiming some onto your thigh on purpose which made you giggle softly through your moans.

The sight of you and Ann sharing a sloppy kiss, moaning in each other’s mouths, had him grunting lowly as his hips stuttered forward a little, chest heaving up and down heavily. He leaned down to join the kiss, which you gladly allowed him, and he shivered as both you and Ann ran a hand through his hair and down his shoulders.

“I think Jerry got the memo as to what this is,” Ann chuckled as she pointed between the three of you. You hadn’t exactly been quiet.

Elvis laughed and nodded- still, he was going to tease the hell out of the younger male for scaring you like that in the hallway earlier, just because he felt like it. He was pretty sure Jerry knew exactly what was going on as soon as you got into his bedroom where Ann also was, but Elvis wasn’t worried.

He trusted everyone who already knew about this relationship and he trusted Jerry too.

“We’ll give him another show in the morning,” the raven haired man that hovered above you and Ann grinned, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

You laughed, running a hand through your hair as you raised yourself on your elbows, pushing him off a little. “In the morning, yeah, right now I could use a bath,”

Ann grinned, nodding in agreement. “Me too,”

Elvis scoffed as he rolled his eyes, looking at the both of you. He already knew what those little pouts you and Ann sported meant and even though he’d act like he was annoyed at it, he was anythiny but.

He loved taking care of the both of you.

“Coming right up- bunch of pillow princesses,” he mumbled as he got off the bed, avoiding a pillow you threw his way before he once more disappeared into the bathroom with a teasing giggle.

 

You and Ann managed to sneak to the kitchen and back to the bedroom without being seen, and with a bottle of wine in hand. Elvis did not like wine, but he didn’t turn down the glass you offered him; he could use a drink after the activities of tonight.

The three of you settled in the filled up bath tub with your drinks – the sight of the three of you was honestly one out of a cartoon. Since the tub was too small to properly fit all of you, you sat in a row with Elvis in the middle and your legs dangling outside of the tub. Ann had mimicked your actions, but Elvis sat with his feet in the water and his knees pulled up to his chest. It had you and Ann wiping tears from your eyes because you were laughing so hard – he looked like a little boy, it was both adorable and hilarious.

The position was anything but comfortable but Elvis didn’t care – all of you would take separate showers later to clean yourselves up properly, but right now there was no other place he’d rather be.

He always loved the feeling of the afterglow with his two favorite girls.

“You know something, guys?” Ann spoke up as you and her were done laughing at Elvis, drawing yours and his attention on her as you sipped your wine. “I love you,”

“We know, little Ammo,” the man in the middle grinned, pressing a kiss against her temple. You nodded in agreement, pulling your feet in the water to turn your body into their direction and face them both.

“We love you too, Annie,” you grinned at her and she nodded, pressing her lips in a tight line. You could see tears burning in her eyes and pouted, reaching your hand out to squeeze her arm softly. “Don’t cry, silly,”

Elvis laughed softly, wrapping an arm around her to pull her closer into his side. He did the same to you, nearly making you and Ann bump heads, which had you both giggling softly.

“I know you love me too- it’s just.. I really love you. I don’t want this to ever end,”

Your heart swelled at her words and you leaned against Elvis’ chest, who spoke before you did. “Me and Y/N ain’t goin’ anywhere- trust me. We love you and that’s all that matters, ain’t that right?”

He looked at you and you immediately nodded, smiling at brightly at your girlfriend before kissing her forehead.

“El is right. It’s us three against the world,”

She laughed, pulling back from the embrace a little to wipe a tear off her cheek. “You’re so cheesy- both of you,”

You gasped and Elvis grinned as he splashed a wave of water in her face, ruining her glass of wine and causing her mascara to run down her face even further. You stole Elvis’ glass out of his hand and placed it on the floor next to the tub along with yours, joining him with his attack on the other female as she did a good job fighting the both of you off.

If you hadn’t woken anyone in the house up with the sound of your sinful moans, they were definitely awake now because of the sound of your laughter and squeals. As part of Elvis’ entourage, that was just something they’d have to deal with.

 

It was a cheesy thing to say, but you meant it. You could not imagine a life without both of them in it anymore and you weren’t planning on finding out what that would be like.

You were happier than you had ever been, so yes, you’ll forever stand by your statement.

It was you, Elvis and Ann-Margret against the world.

Taglist: @breadsquash @feverkitten @woundmetender @returntoelvis @prayerstopresley @ab4eva @marriedtopresley @steph-speaks @wonka-gifs @notstefaniepresley @ellie-24 @savedrebelcreation @dollksj @webbedwebs @re3kin @wivette @elvisabutler

[satureja13]

05:53 AM Sunrise in Galloping Gulch

I bet the Boys had a wonderful night under the stars! Good morning Boys!

Saiwa: "Good morning yourself!"

Oh ok... I bet they crave for a bed since they slept on the floor too at the campside :(

'I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis She tried to take me upstairs for a ride She had to heave me right across her shoulder 'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind

It's the honky tonk women Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues'

Honkytonk Women - The Rolling Stones

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest

[ihateapbiology]

summer dates/blurb

-I’m picturing picnics a lot of picnics and maybe she brings her guitar just absentmindedly strumming or showing you some of her new stuff.

-Will definitely pick a flower and put it in your hair

-Nights just watching the stars in the back of that red pick up truck. You fall asleep on eachother and wake up with 100 mosquito bites but it’s worth it.

-We alr know she’s not celebrating the 4th of July like the traditional way because ofc (you do hear a heated rant about it and its history) but you watch the Memphis fireworks from her roof.

-Beach days that’s are filled with her picking u up bridle style and running down to dunk you into the ocean.

-Absolutely dying over how good you look in your swimsuit of choice

-I know that girl is the type to be saving like the small sea creatures or like briefly finding a hermit crab gently picking it up to show you and then carefully releasing it

-Definitely has ate shit on a skimboard before

-If this is the summer of 2023 you are basically at every gig you can get to- complimenting her immediately after she gets off stage (the post concert adrenaline moments in dressing rooms 🥵

-lazy days when you guys are just high off of love barely getting out of bed unless it’s to let the dog out or grab food

-speaking of dogs taking long hikes and walks with Beans-sunrise/sunset

-I stand behind JB trying to make you a runner if you aren’t already or loving to run with you

[practically-an-x-man]

reaching out with their hand without saying anything, wanting the other one to grab it

For my fave ship Ahkat? (You know I would pick them)

Oooh good choice! Ahk and Kat are such an adorable pair to write <3

____ Christmas Lights

Word Count: 977 Content Warnings: None!

"Hey, do you have time for a walk?" Katherine asked, resisting the urge to bounce on her toes. Ahkmenrah glanced up at the clock over the wall. Hardly ten at night. They had hours to spare before sunrise.

"Always, my love." he agreed, "I imagine you've got something planned for us?"

"I do..." Katherine replied, drawing the words out cryptically though she couldn't stop the smile pulling at her lips, "It's a surprise. You'll like it."

"I'm sure I will," he replied, returning her smile, "Give me just a moment to get changed and we'll go."

She met him at the door not even ten minutes later, pulling her own coat on against the winter chill. The young pharaoh had swapped his usual Kemetic garb for something much more... well... New York-appropriate. He was dressed in dark slacks and a deep green button-up, and was in the process of pulling on a worn corduroy coat when she joined him. It made him look academic, sophisticated - as ironic as it was, he looked more like he belonged in the museum in this getup than in his usual wear. Compared to how well the outfit complimented his slender frame, Katherine felt almost inept in her puffy winter jacket and paint-spattered blue jeans.

"Ready?" she asked. Ahk nodded and moved to push open the door, holding it for her as she stepped through. Months of this, and she still never grew tired of his chivalry. She didn't imagine she ever would.

The walk was brief but awfully chilly, and Katherine found herself drifting back towards Ahk's side as they made their way through the streets. Snow came down in fat white flakes. Every so often, she shivered as a snowflake snuck down the hem of her jacket.

Winter in New York was rarely a glamorous thing from the street, with its stacks of grey slush clogging the streets and endless bustle of foot traffic even late at night, but Katherine could appreciate the sight either way. They hardly ever got snow back in Memphis. Grey slush or not, there were lights on the storefronts and decorations all strung up overhead, and there was beauty to all of that. She wanted to paint it.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Ahk leaned in and kissed her cheek without even breaking stride. Katherine tilted her head at him but didn't hide her smile.

"Mistletoe." he said by way of explanation.

"I'm surprised you even know about that tradition," Katherine replied, "Isn't that... what, Roman? Celtic?"

"Roman. Saturnalia. I... may have helped Octavius hang a piece over the doorway to the miniatures' exhibit."

Katherine giggled under her breath, shaking her head.

"That's not going to work out the way he thinks it will," she said, "He'll probably end up having to kiss one of his own soldiers."

"Hm. Maybe."

There was something interesting in his voice, a joke that hadn't quite reached its punchline, and Katherine raised her eyebrows at her partner.

"What is it?"

"Jed may have asked me to hang one in the same place." Ahk admitted, shooting her a cheeky smile. Katherine laughed, bumping her shoulder into his own good-naturedly.

"You're playing matchmaker!"

"Just a touch." he agreed with a low shrug, "It's about time, anyway. I've been watching those two circle each other for decades."

"Well, I suppose when you've got decades to spend..." Katherine said with a shrug, then glanced up at the building ahead of them, "Oh, hey, we're here."

She led him into the building and spoke briefly with the woman at the front desk before guiding him down to the elevators. She caught Ahk sneaking glances at the foyer around them, looking faintly confused.

"Emily got an internship here," Katherine explained, pulling him gently into the elevator and punching the button for the top floor, "She told her boss you were an out-of-towner, and she agreed to help us out with a little favor."

Another minute or two later, and the two of them stepped out onto the highest floor of the building. It was an open room, perhaps a conference space, with a full wall of windows on the far side. Katherine wandered towards that far wall, her pharaoh only a step behind.

"Look at that," she said, a little breathless. She'd never seen the lights of New York laid out like this either. The city sprawled out in front of them, lit in a dozen colors. The cars far below looked like toys, the crowds of people like ants milling about in search of crumbs. Far off in the distance, she could see Central Park in a blanket of soft white, and Times Square with its leviathan tree all covered in ornaments.

Ahkmenrah came up to her side, standing so close she could hear the way his breath stalled at the sight. He didn't speak. The lights of the city reflected in his eyes, turning them almost silver.

Wordlessly, he held out a hand to her. Katherine laced her fingers with his own and leaned into his side, savoring the warmth of his touch.

Ahk leaned down and again kissed her cheek, the same way he had out on the street. Katherine smiled, turning her head to catch a second kiss against her lips.

"No mistletoe this time," she teased, bumping him lightly with her hip. Ahk tilted his head, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small green sprig.

"You did not," Katherine gaped at him, though she failed to keep her laughter confined to her chest. Ahk grinned, dimples creasing his cheeks.

"I haven't hung Jed's yet," he said, "Figured I'd want it with me. It's a lovely tradition."

His eyes gleamed as he lifted the greenery high over their heads. He didn't speak, but he tilted his head in invitation.

They shared a kiss surrounded by the lights of Christmas.

[skogenraev]

Ptah

Lord of the Sky; Lord of the Two Lands; Lord of Truths; Lord of Sunrise; Father of Fathers; Power of Powers

Origin: Egypt

In the beginning was the word. That phrase is now familiar as the first line of the Gospel of John, but is also familiar to devotees of Ptah, Creator of the World. He is the architect of the universe whose first building blocks were thought and speech. He is a primordial deity from the earliest epochs. Ptah means the “opener” but not only in the literal sense of opening a window or door. The word was used in the context of carving, chiseling, or engraving, which the Egyptians perceived as opening up the powers of stone or metal. Ptah is the patron of stone and metalworkers. Ptah is the craftsman of the universe. He fashions new bodies for souls in the Next Realm. Ptah was credited with inventing the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony, the ritual expected to reanimate the deceased. The Greeks and Romans identified Ptah with Hephaestus and Vulcan respectively

𓂃⊹ Iconography: Ptah is portrayed as a bearded man shrouded in a close-fitting garment or as a bearded mummy. He is entirely bound: only his hands project from a front opening. He may wear a menat amulet symbolic of joy, pleasure, and fertility. 𓂃⊹ Attributes: A scepter that combines several amuletic forms, including an ankh and djed pillar (See also: Osiris); builder’s tools 𓂃⊹ Consorts: Bastet, Sekhmet, and/or Wadjet. 𓂃⊹ Jewel: Lapis lazuli 𓂃⊹ Planet: Sun 𓂃⊹ Sacred site: Memphis, Egypt 𓂃⊹ Creatures: Rats

Ptah was lord of truth, and the patron god of sculptors and craftsmen (since he was considered to have sculpted the earth). he created the first mound of earth from Nu by imagining it in his heart and breathed life into things with his voice

Besides his role as creator of the universe, Ptah was also a master builder. He created the arts of stoneworking and architecture that allowed the Egyptians to build the tombs of the Valley of the Kings and, later, the pyramids. Ptah also ruled smithing and metalworking, sculpture, art, carpentry, and shipbuilding. Ptah’s priests were also often talented crafters, and were sought after for their advice and wisdom. Some became influential builders and advisors to the royal family, or even married into the royal family themselves.

Because of his association with tomb craftsmanship Ptah was also part of Egyptian funeral ceremonies. He was said to have created the important Opening of the Mouth ritual, which was a part of Egyptian mummification procedures. The Opening of the Mouth had to be performed to allow the mummy to use its mouth in the afterlife, so it could speak, breathe, and eat. The Opening of the Mouth was meant to represent Ptah’s own origin, when he used his mouth to speak the universe into existence.

Ptah was married to the lion goddess of war, Sekhmet, and their children were Nefertum, a god of healing and medicine, and Maahes, another war god. Ptah, Sekhmet, and Nefertum were the three most important gods in Memphis. Imhotep, a brilliant engineer, astronomer, and physician who lived in the 27th century BCE, was said to be Ptah’s adopted son, and became worshiped as a god himself after his death

[sunset-mp4]

Memphis: -and that is why your sibling is a cat

Sunset/Sunrise {whichever name eurehhd}: ......... You found her in a bush?

Shadow: SHE WANTED TO PUT ME UP FOR ADOP-

Memphis: SHHHhhh

with how things are right now I think it would be more like: memphis: *appears with shadow* sunrise: SO YOU TAKE IN THAT CAT BUT NOT KURO??? Memphis: I didn't ask for this- sunrise: OK. COPE!??? SEETHE!??????

[rafi602]

Sunrise in Memphis (at Memphis International Airport - MEM) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClJU_JoLm4a/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[fishrpg]

2024-04-29: The Ghost of Casey Jones (Encounter)

Casey Jones was a white railroad engineer on the Illinois Central line who died in a train crash in 1900 and was immortalized in a folk ballad composed by his Black friend, Wallace Saunders. Jones was known for being extremely punctual with his arrival times and also for his peculiar way he operated the engine whistle so that everyone knew when he was coming down the tracks. On the night of the crash, Casey had to fill in after another engineer called in sick and make up 75 minutes on an overnight passenger route from Memphis, Tennessee to Canton, Mississippi. On this fateful trip, he was using the powerful Engine No. 382, which had the nickname of "Cannonball" because of how fast it could go. The crash happened near Vaughn, Mississippi, where three other trains were out on track trying to reposition. Casey Jones was the only fatality of the wreck, which would have been much worse had Jones not tried to stop the train up until the very end. All these years later, the ghost of Casey Jones is said to haunt the rails of the Illinois Central.

Ghost of Casey Jones Encounters (1d6)

A long, lilting whistle races down an empty section of track, coming from nowhere in particular, followed by a huge gust of wind strong enough to knock down anyone standing close to the tracks.

The twisted wreck of Engine No. 382 is entangled with the rear cars of another freight train. A man lies on the ground, waking up from unconsciousness after a head injury. He identifies himself as Simeon "Sim" Webb, the fireman aboard the crashed passenger train. Curiously, the train appears to be completely empty and Sim doesn't seem too bothered by the wreck. He'll stick around until sunrise, and accompany the party if they decide to investigate the wreckage, but both Sim and the train disappears at sunrise.

A train trundles down the tracks, appearing slightly translucent during the day and glowing a ghostly blue at night. The engineer waves at the party and blows the whistle in the signature style of Casey Jones.

While crossing a railroad track, the crossing signs activate and a random party member gets stuck to the track. A slow-moving engine soon appears, heading straight for the person on the track. The engineer jumps from the train and runs toward the party member, tackling them out of the way of the train before running back to the engine and yelling at the party to stay off the track.

Standing on the railroad tracks is a horrendously burned man in a train engineer's outfit clutching a broken air-brake lever from a train. He looks at the party and says "I saved 'em all in that crash. Won't be needing this any more." He tosses the broken lever on the ground and fades away.

Brakes squeal as Engine No. 382 tries to stop on an empty section of track. The train shakes and shudders with the effort, and suddenly the engine begins to crumple and catch fire as though it hit an invisible wall. The train continues to travel into the invisible wall, its cars smashing together into a crumpled heap that is only the size of single rail car. Eventually it explodes into a pile of charred shards of metal that fade out of existence within 10 minutes.

[dasmuggler]

This is a must share, must read for all Texans, used-to-be Texans, adopted Texans or wanna-be Texans.

JUST TEXAS

Pep , Texas 79353

Smiley , Texas 78159

Paradise , Texas 76073

Rainbow , Texas 76077

Sweet Home , Texas 77987

Comfort , Texas 78013

Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?

Sun City , Texas 78628

Sunrise , Texas 76661

Sunset, Texas 76270

Sundown, Texas 79372

Sunray , Texas 79086

Sunny Side , Texas 77423

Sunnyvale, Texas 75182

Want something to eat?

Bacon , Texas 76301

Noodle , Texas 79536

Oatmeal , Texas 78605

Turkey , Texas 79261

Trout , Texas 75789

Sugar Land , Texas 77479

Salty, Texas 76567

Rice , Texas 75155

Pearland , Texas 77581

Orange , Texas 77630

And top it off with:

Sweetwater , Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!

Detroit , Texas 75436

Cleveland , Texas 75436

Colorado City , Texas 79512

Denver City , Texas 79323

Klondike , Texas 75448

Nevada , Texas 75173

Memphis , Texas 79245

Miami , Texas 79059

Boston , Texas 75570

Santa Fe , Texas 77517

Tennessee Colony , Texas 75861

Reno , Texas 75462

Pasadena , Texas 77506

Columbus , Texas 78934

Feel like traveling outside the country?

Athens , Texas 75751

Canadian, Texas 79014

China , Texas 77613

Egypt , Texas 77436

Ireland , Texas 76538

Italy , Texas 76538

Turkey , Texas 79261

London , Texas 76854

New London , Texas 75682

Paris , Texas 75460

Palestine , Texas 75801

Moscow, Texas 75960

No need to travel to Washington D.C.

Whitehouse , Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!

Earth , Texas 79031

We have a city named after our state

Texas City , Texas 77590

Exhausted?

Energy , Texas 76452

Cold?

Blanket , Texas 76432

Winters, Texas

Like to read about History?

Santa Anna , Texas

Goliad , Texas

Alamo , Texas

Gun Barrel City , Texas

Robert Lee , Texas

Need Office Supplies?

Staples, Texas 78670

Want to go into outer space?

Venus , Texas 76084

Mars , Texas 79062

You guessed it.. It's on the state line.

Texline , Texas 79087

For the kids...

Kermit , Texas 79745

Elmo , Texas 75118

Nemo , Texas 76070

Tarzan , Texas 79783

Winnie , Texas 77665

Sylvester , Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas , to make you smile.........

Frognot , Texas 75424

Bigfoot , Texas 78005

Hogeye , Texas 75423

Cactus , Texas 79013

Notrees , Texas 79759

Best, Texas 76932

Veribest , Texas 76886

Kickapoo , Texas 75763

Dime Box , Texas 77853

Old Dime Box , Texas 77853

Telephone , Texas 75488

Telegraph , Texas 76883

Whiteface , Texas 79379

Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City

Kilgore , Texas 75662

And our favorites...

Cut n Shoot, Texas

Gun Barrell City , Texas

Hoop And Holler, Texas

Ding Dong, Texas

and, of course,

Muleshoe , Texas

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas ...

If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas ;

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Texas ;

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas ;

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas ;

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas ;

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas ;

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas ;

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph --you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;

If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;

If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas ..

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .

1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles

2... Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

3... El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4... World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike -2008!

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston .

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

10. The worst natural disaster in U.S.... history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ," but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.

12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island ..

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43' in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979...

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states.

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper..

18. Texas has had six capital cities:

Washington -on- the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston ,Velasco, West Columbia and Austin ...

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).

20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.

21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas ..

22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.).

23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .

Cowboy's Ten Commandments

(Posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie , Texas)

1) Just one God.

(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.

(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.

(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.

(5) Put nothin' before God.

(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.

(7) No killin'.

(8) Watch yer mouth.

(9) Don't take what ain't yers.

(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

Y'all git all that?

[dfwunicornhunters]

Sunrise heading to Memphis

[egyptatours]

Magical 5 Days Cairo and Sahara Tour Package

Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Look no further than our 5 Days Cairo and Sahara Tour Package! This incredible journey will take you through the heart of Egypt, allowing you to explore the bustling city of Cairo and the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert.

With our expert guides leading the way, you'll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the rich history and culture of this extraordinary country.

The tour begins in Cairo, where you'll be greeted with warm smiles and a vibrant energy that is unique to this bustling city.

From the moment you step foot in Cairo, you'll be captivated by its ancient wonders and modern marvels. Visit the iconic Pyramids of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and marvel at their sheer size and grandeur.

Explore the ancient ruins of Memphis and Saqqara, where you'll discover the fascinating history of Egypt's pharaohs. And no trip to Cairo would be complete without a visit to the world-renowned Egyptian Museum, home to countless treasures including the magnificent golden mask of Tutankhamun.

After immersing yourself in the wonders of Cairo, it's time to embark on an unforgettable journey into the Sahara Desert. Traveling by jeep, you'll venture deep into the desert, where towering sand dunes and vast stretches of golden sand await you.

As you navigate through this otherworldly landscape, you'll have the opportunity to witness breathtaking sunsets and sunrises, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

With our 5 Days Cairo and Sahara Tour Package, you'll experience the best that Egypt has to offer in just a short amount of time. 

From the bustling streets of Cairo to the tranquil beauty of the Sahara Desert, this tour is guaranteed to leave you with memories that will last a lifetime. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity - book your adventure today!

Reach out to us:

Emails

operation@egyptatours.com

Contact@egyptatours.com

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