Interlude
Carmen had seen him around the condominium development several times before. Once when they were picking up their mail at the same time and a few other times when they’d been leaving their condos; apparently he’d left his apartment shortly before she had. She knew he lived in the building next to hers and had been for the past 8 months, but that was about all she knew about him. She’d always thought he was a very attractive man, but had never given it much more thought than that. She had noticed how broad his shoulders were and how, even though she stood 5’11 in heels, he was still taller than she was.
Now here he was kneeling beside her and looking into her face with a worried expression. It was February and the sidewalks were icy. In what was her typical clumsy fashion, Carmen had managed to slip on a patch of ice and now she lay prone on the ground with a perfect stranger close enough to be almost kissing her. As she looked into his face, Carmen thought that he had the most incredibly beautiful, deep blue eyes. They reminded her of her many trips to the Caribbean. Carmen’s own dark brown ones stared into his until she felt as if she’d forgotten how to breathe.
“Does it hurt much?” he asks, gently probing her right ankle with his strong tapered fingers.
She flinches and murmurs, “Yes a little.”
“Here. Let me help you up,” he says. “I think you should have a doctor look at your ankle.”
“Oh I will,” she replies having no intention of doing anything but soaking her foot in a tub of warm water treated with Epsom salt, a remedy she’d learned from her grandmother whose mother had been a slave. And since it was the weekend, she would just stay off of it until she had to return to work Monday.
“Where’s your car?” the man asks.
Before she can answer, he shakes his head and says, “You can’t drive. I’ll have to drive you. Just lean on me.”
“You drive me?” Carmen asks. “I don’t even know you or your name.”
“Well, I’m Matt Spencer. And you are?”
“Carmen Davis,” she replies trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
“Nice to meet you Carmen Davis, “ Matt responds with a smile curving his lips.
What sexy lips he has. I wonder how they’d feel on mine. Wonderful I bet. Realizing what she is thinking about Matt, Carmen gets flustered.
In her embarrassment Carmen forgets her injured foot and pulls away from Matt almost falling to the ground again.
“Hey. Careful there now,” Matt says gently. “You don’t want to injure yourself any further do you?
Carmen just smiles at Matt feeling like a complete fool. He probably thinks I’m a total idiot she thinks. Oh well. It’s not like I’ll be spending an extensive amount of time with him after this. Let him think what he wants of me.
“My car is a few rows back to the left in the parking garage. Do you think you can make it that far if you lean on me?” he asks Carmen while looking into her face.
“Uh…sure,” she replies not sure at all.
She actually seems to be suffering more from her physical reaction to Matt than from her injured foot.
When Matt smiles at her encouragingly, her heart skips a beat.
Giving herself a mental shake she thinks: This is ridiculous. I’m acting as if I’ve never seen or been around an attractive man before.
As Matt and Carmen reach his car, he realizes he can’t get his keys because they are in his left front pants pocket and Carmen is leaning on that side of him.
“Umm…..my keys are in that pocket,” he says pointing to it. “Do you think you could reach in and get them for me?”
Carmen looks down at his pocket and feels her face growing hot.
Good grief! I’m going to be practically fondling a perfect stranger. Can this situation get any more absurd? Why in the world did she have to be so clumsy? If she weren’t such a klutz, she wouldn’t be in the ridiculous situation of groping a man whose name she’d just learned all of 3 minutes ago and for some unknown reason to whom she seemed to be incredibly attracted.
Well nothing to do, but get it over with, she thinks resolutely.
“Here you go,” she says handing the retrieved car keys over to Matt.
He opens the passenger side door of his champagne-colored Saab and lifts Carmen in being careful not to hurt her foot further.
On the 10-minute drive to the hospital Carmen and Matt sit in silence. Although acutely aware of Matt’s presence, Carmen feels surprising relaxed and safe with him and realizes with a start she is almost asleep. The last month of craziness at work must have tired her more than she realized.
“Well, here we are,” Matt says pulling up to the hospital. “You wait here and I’ll go get a wheelchair for you.”
When he returns with the wheelchair and a nurse, Carmen starts to thank him for all his help, but before she can say anything he begins pushing her wheelchair toward the hospital careful to avoid any more ice patches.
At the hospital Matt had insisted that he stay with Carmen to make sure that she got the proper care. Now they are back at her comfortable 2- bedroom condo. Although she felt she was infringing on his time, he had been so concerned and questioning of the doctors as to how she was to take care of her sprained ankle, that she was grateful he had stayed. It had been a long time since any man that wasn’t related to her had shown this much concern for her welfare---and she barely knew the man.
What she did know is that the more she was around Matt, the more she was attracted to him. Now that he was ensconced in her apartment as though he intended to set up camp, she didn’t know how she was going to get through the weekend without him realizing her growing attraction for him. She had tried to convince him to go home to his own apartment and continue with whatever weekend plans he’d had before her little mishap, but he was hearing none of it. He had returned to his apartment, but only to pick up some clothing and toiletries.
Now Carmen sits comfortably on her multi-colored sofa unaware that she is biting her lower lip nervously. Matt is in the kitchen making her some tea and fixing them a light dinner. He has admitted to her that he isn’t much of a cook, but that his mother has taught him enough of the basics of cooking that he won’t starve. Whatever he is fixing smells delicious and she realizes that she is rather hungry.
Just as her stomach lets out a humongous growl, Matt walks into the room carrying a tray with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a golden brown perfectly toasted grilled cheese sandwich; her cup of tea is also on the tray. He sets down the tray and moves the small dinner table he’d retrieved from her front closet earlier in front of her. Carmen saw that he had neatly folded one of her light blue cloth napkins she’d received as a birthday gift from her Mom a few years back and placed her eating utensils on it along with some lemon wedges, sugar, artificial sweetener packets and some milk for her tea. Carmen could tell he’d tried to make it as nice for her as he could and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes.
“This is very nice,” Carmen says cheerfully to disguise the huskiness of her voice. “Thank you very much for everything Matt,” she says looking up into his face.
“You’re more than welcome,” he says. “I know how it is not to feel well and to have no one around to spoil you a little. I hope this makes you feel a little better Carmen.
“A lot better,” she says smiling. “Aren’t you eating?” she asks feeling disappointed because she thinks he has changed his mind about staying the weekend.
“Oh yes. I just have to get mine from the kitchen. I hope you don’t mind me using your coffee table since you only have the one dinner tray?”
“No. Not at all.”
As Matt and Carmen eat the simple dinner he has prepared, they talk quietly getting to know a little about each other. Carmen discovers that Matt has 2 sisters and a brother. He is next to the youngest child having an older sister and brother and one younger sister. His family is very close and his Mom and Dad have been married for 27 years. Matt finds out that Carmen is an only child whose father died when she was seven. He had doted on his “little angel” and Carmen had missed him terribly after his death. She wasn’t really sure she’d ever get over it. She hadn’t dated much in her 27 years, but the men she had dated always seemed to fall far short of her expectations. Since her rather large family consisted mostly of males, she had been terribly spoiled by cousins and uncles almost as much as her father had spoiled her.
Carmen realizes that both she and Matt have finished their meal. A peaceful quietness descends in Carmen’s cozy living room area. It appears that she and Matt have temporarily run out of things to talk about.
“Well, I’ll clean up the dishes,” Matt says breaking the silence.
“I feel so bad having you wait on me like this,” Carmen protests.
“There’s no need to. I’m enjoying this. At the risk of sounding chauvinistic, most women today are so independent that it’s difficult for them to say they want help,” Matt chuckles a bit self-consciously.
“Well, I never thought of it like that,” Carmen says. “But I suppose it would be difficult for a man to be with a woman who he doesn’t feel needs him for anything.”
After the dishes have been washed, dried and put away, Carmen realizes how tired she is.
“You won’t think I’m rude if I go on to bed will you Matt? I’m really tired and not sure how much longer I’ll be able to keep my eyes open.”
“No not at all. I was thinking of turning in myself.”
“Oh good,” Carmen replies. “Well good night,” she says using the crutches she’d borrowed from the hospital to make her way to the bedroom.
“Damn it,” Carmen mutters. Somehow she has managed to fall off of her bed and is trying to get off the floor without waking Matt, but her sore ankle is hindering her. According to the alarm clock she keeps on the right nightstand, she has only been asleep for about an hour and a half.
“How in the world……..”
“Carmen, are you alright? I heard a thud. Do you need some help?” Matt calls through her bedroom door.
Oh great. Here Matt comes to the rescue again Carmen thinks viciously. Why doesn’t he just leave me alone? I’ve been doing fine all these years by myself. It’s just a stupid sprained ankle.
In her effort to convince herself of her independence, Carmen puts more weight on her ankle than she intends. Before she can stop it, a yelp of pain escapes her.
“I’m coming in,” Matt says. “I hope you’re decent.”
“I don’t need your help Matt,” Carmen says as he walks through her bedroom door.
“Yes, I can see that,” Matt responds dryly.
Carmen just glares at him. “Well, if you’re going to help me, then just be quiet and do it.”
“Well since you don’t need my help, maybe I should just let you get up all by yourself,” Matt says standing in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest.
“Whatever jerk,” Carmen responds.
“I’m a jerk?! I’ve done nothing, but try to help you and you call me a jerk??”
“Yea. You’re a jerk,” Carmen yells breathing hard both from the pain in her ankle and her arousal at the sight of Matt’s shirtless torso.
“Well I’m not a jerk and I’ll prove it by helping you get back into bed even though you sure don’t deserve it.”
That said Matt easily swings her 5’8 inch frame into his arms and carries her to the bed where he gently sits her in the middle of it.
“Well there you are,” he says preparing to leave the room without another word.
“Matt wait,” Carmen says. She looks at him contritely. “I’m sorry for calling you a jerk,” she continues staring into his face and again noticing how incredible his eyes are. His dark, wavy hair is rumpled from sleep and she has a sudden urge to smooth it down.
Suddenly the room is electric with sexual tension. Carmen sees Matt’s eyes darken further and unconsciously she licks her suddenly dry lips. With what sounds like a small growl, Matt crosses to Carmen’s bed and takes her smooth, brown shoulders in his hands. They stare into one another’s eyes as if trying to decide if they’re really going to do this. Matt gently places his lips on hers, slowly tasting their fullness. When she doesn’t resist he deepens the kiss tasting the inner recesses of her mouth. Carmen sighs as though she has been waiting for his kiss for a lifetime. She opens her mouth further allowing Matt even more access. A hot flame of desire leaps from the pit of her belly causing her to moan with pleasure.
“Oh Matt don’t stop,” she whispers. Apparently he’s one of those men who sleeps in only pajama bottoms because he is naked from the waist up; Carmen takes full advantage of this as she caresses the muscles of his back feeling their unyielding hardness beneath the pads of her fingertips.
Matt moans against her lips as his kiss deepens. Her hands move to stroke his thick hair, caressing and stroking as if with a mind of their own. Carmen pushes her body against Matt’s trying to meld hers with his. Her erect nipples poke through her thin nightshirt and press into his smooth, hard chest muscles. Matt slides his hands from her shoulders to the sides of her breasts stroking her nipples with his thumbs. Her sharp intake of breath against his lips lets him know that she likes it. He continues to gently caress the tips of her breasts with his thumbs making circular motions. Carmen whimpers softly as liquid fire burns between her legs. She can’t recall ever being this aroused by any man. If Matt doesn’t soon spread her legs and enter her, she feels as though she will lose her mind
As though he had read her mind, Matt lays her back on the bed as he caresses her soft chocolate skin. He trails his lips down her face to her neck and gently nips at it. He continues down her body leaving a path of kisses from her neck to her stomach. Reaching down he lifts the hem of her nightshirt and pulls it over her head. He stares down at her as though enraptured with her beauty. His eyes travel from her small, pert breasts encircled by large dark areolas topped by dime-sized brown nipples to the smooth, unmarked skin of her stomach to the neatly cropped v-shape of hair between her legs down to the flair of her hips. His eyes return to her face. She is staring at him and it’s obvious that she is holding her breath in anticipation of his reaction to seeing her naked.
“You don’t know how sexy you are do you Carmen?” he asks her softly.
Carmen lowers her eyes without answering him.
“Well, I want to show you how sexy you are, “ he says when she doesn’t respond.
With that he tenderly spreads her legs and kisses her in that special place between her thighs.
“Oh Matt,” Carmen breathes.
Matt continues to place soft kisses between her thighs slightly increasing the pressure with each successive kiss. With each kiss Carmen spreads her legs wider and, without being aware of it, begins to lift her hips to meet Matt’s kisses. Why is he torturing me like this? Why doesn’t he just open me up and taste me? She can feel her juices caressing her inner thighs and knows that Matt must be able to smell her ecstasy. Gently Matt probes her inner recesses with his tongue. The taste of her is like nectar—so sweet and filling. He tastes her again and again seeming unable to release himself from her sweetness. She moans in delight feeling the heat between her legs increase. Warmth pours out of her as she arches her body uncontrollably.
“Matt. Oh my God. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” Carmen moans loudly.
Suddenly sweet warmth floods out of Carmen soaking the bed. For a second Matt looks bewildered and then begins to suck at Carmen’s insides while probing his tongue deep within her, soaking his face with her juices. She tastes so untouched and pure that Matt can’t get enough of her.
Carmen moans again and begins convulsing on the bed. Her body is bathed in sweat and she feels as if her entire being is concentrated in that sensitive area between her legs. Then the most magnificent orgasm she has ever experienced explodes through her body causing her to scream in an agony of pleasure.
When she finally quiets down, Matt crawls up beside her and holds her exhausted, sweaty body in his arms. He tenderly kisses her forehead while cradling her head on his chest and removes the hair that is plastered to her face. He can feel her body trembling and continues to hold her until he hears her even breathing, indicating that she has fallen asleep. He continues holding her that way for the next few hours thinking about the best way to handle the situation he finds himself in. He then quietly slips out of her bed and goes to the guest room where he dresses and gathers his belongings. It will be better if he leaves before Carmen awakens. He doesn’t want to make her feel awkward and he’s not exactly proud that he’s taken advantage of her while she is in a vulnerable state.
Just as he slips his arms into his shirt he hears Carmen ask in a toneless voice, “So you decided to leave after all?”
Matt jumps guiltily and turns to look at Carmen. Although her face is composed, Matt thinks that she looks like the most vulnerable creature he has ever seen in his life. He clears his throat before answering her.
“I thought this would be more comfortable . . . . .,” he begins quietly.
“For whom?” Carmen asks.
“For you Carmen. I took advantage of you when you were vulnerable.”
Carmen begins to laugh. “You did what?” she asks between giggles.
“I took advantage . . .”
Carmen lets out another loud giggle. “Don’t say it,” she laughs. “Please don’t say it. I won’t be responsible for what happens if you do.”
Matt just stares at Carmen as if she’s lost her mind.
“You . . you . . . took advantage of me?” she laughs. “How silly. You act as if I was drunk or high or something. Matt nothing happened that I didn’t want to happen. And nothing happened I didn’t enjoy.”
Matt just clears his throat and looks uncomfortable.
“And unless I was more out of it than I realized, you didn’t do anything to satisfy yourself so exactly how did you take advantage of me Matt?”
He just stands there in his bare feet with his pants on and shirt unbuttoned looking at Carmen. He doesn’t really have a good answer to her question and she seems to know it.
“Well?” she says mockingly. “Please explain it to me.”
Carmen then asks more softly, “Matt can you explain it?”
“No. I guess not,” he responds sounding somewhat puzzled.
“Would you like to take advantage of me?” Carmen asks looking at Matt innocently. “I would really like it if you would and I think you’d like it too,” Carmen speaks softly.
Matt looks at Carmen somewhat apprehensively.
“Come here Matt. Come on,” she coaxes as Matt hesitates. “I promise this won’t hurt a bit.”
Carmen holds out her hand to Matt as he comes forward hesitantly and puts his hand in hers. Carmen pulls Matt closer until their faces are only centimeters apart. She then slightly opens her mouth and uses the tip of her tongue to lightly moisten her lips. After wetting her lips, she leans in so close to Matt that she can actually taste his breath on her lips. Leaning in ever closer she lightly touches her full bottom lip to Matt’s, teasing an involuntary moan from him. Sensing the power she has over him Carmen leans away from Matt putting more distance between them. Again she leans into Matt’s warmth and brushes her lips against his. She feels his sharp intake of breath and smiles to herself. Placing her slightly parted lips firmly on his, she waits for him to respond.
At first Matt doesn’t respond, then he hesitantly presses his lips more firmly against hers and slightly opens his strawberry-colored lips. Carmen darts her tongue into the opening between his lips and touches it to his tongue. She tastes the inner sweetness of his mouth and is driven by a power and lust she would have doubted possible just a few hours earlier.
No longer teasing, but consumed by her own out of control desire she kisses Matt deeply as if drinking from a nectar so sweet one taste can not possibly satisfy. Completely oblivious of her injured ankle she thrust her body against Matt’s while plunging her hands into his thick, dark hair. She can’t seem to get close enough to him. She can’t stop her hands from frantically caressing his back, his neck, his arms---anywhere her hands find themselves.
Suddenly Matt lifts her into his arms and carries her to his bed. Thinking he is leaving her, Carmen grabs at his shirt and pulls him to her.
“Matt I want us to make love,” she says huskily. “I want to feel you open me up, thrust deep inside and feel me cling to every inch of you as you plunge deeper and deeper into me.”
“You don’t have to tell me but once,” Matt chuckles softly. Again the thin nightshirt is removed from her body after which Matt stares into Carmen’s eyes so long and intensely that she begins to blush.
“What is it you want me to do again?” he asks teasingly.
“Oh I think you remember,” Carmen replies pushing Matt’s shirt down
his arms and unsnapping the button of his pants. As she pushes his pants down past his hips, her hands lightly skim the bulge in his briefs. She glances up at Matt with a small smile curving her lips. She then places her hands directly onto the bulge in his underwear beginning to caress him in circular motions. She can feel his length begin to harden even more and continues stroking him until there is no room left in his underwear. She then slides his briefs down his hips and places her hands on his throbbing manhood. Matt makes small grunting noises as Carmen increases the pressure of her hands while sliding them up and down the full length of his shaft. The heat emanating from him is enormous and she feels as if she is holding a furnace in her hands. Although her caresses are intensely erotic, she can’t help but want to feel his heat somewhere else, somewhere hotter, somewhere wetter, somewhere sweeter.
Instead of having him enter her as her body is longing for her to do, Carmen slides her nude body down the length of his until she is able to remove his clothing making him as naked as she is. She then begins to place gentle kisses along the length of his body starting with his surprisingly soft, smooth feet. She doesn’t stop until she reaches his stiffly vibrating shaft. Taking the head by one hand, she uses her thumb to slowly rub the precum he has ejaculated around its tip. While doing this Carmen continues to softly kiss his balls. Both Matt’s and Carmen’s breathing increases as she begins placing kisses across his lightly haired stomach and continues covering him in kisses until she reaches his nipples. She then takes one into her mouth where she sucks sweetly at it. It immediately hardens into a tight, hard knot. Amazingly Matt’s erection hardens even more. He’s never had a woman suck his nipples before and he is extremely aroused; he is actually on the verge of exploding all over Carmen’s clean cotton sheets, but before he does Carmen moves on to kissing his neck. He can feel some of the rigidness leave him as Carmen’s scented body covers his. The kisses she places on his neck are so feathery soft they almost tickle.
“Matt,” Carmen murmurs. “Would you mind terribly if I changed
my mind about us making love?”
“What?” he asks somewhat startled by this unexpected request. He opens his eyes and looks into her face inquiringly. It is then that he sees the impish grin on Carmen’s face and realizes that she is teasing him.
“Or,” she asks, “Would you prefer this?”
She then lifts her hips, reaches down and guides his hardness into her
hot, wet chambers. Sliding down on him ever so slowly she encases his entire length in her tight walls. Matt sighs with pleasure. Carmen continues sliding Matt in and out of her again and again, sometimes slower sometimes faster always seeming to know exactly when to change tempo to prevent Matt from coming. Finally Matt can’t take it any more and begins thrusting harder and deeper into Carmen while firmly holding her hips. Within minutes he explodes deep inside of her, igniting her own climax. Matt shudders in pleasure as Carmen’s juices flow down the length of his manhood, soaking his pubic hair. As she lifts her hips uncontrollably, releasing more and more of her nectar, Matt grips her thighs tightly while groaning out his desire until at last they are both exhausted. Carmen falls forward onto his chest and rests her sweaty body there, unable to move. She falls asleep there with him still buried inside of her and his arms wrapped loosely around her back.
