Thor'sday Night - Paranormal Erotica (4 page)

He comes and stands in the doorway.

She can’t quite bring herself to smile over at
him. ‘I hope you like Chicken Caesar Salad.’

‘Is that what you’re making?’

‘Yes.’ She drizzles a little extra-virgin olive
oil over each cutlet wishing he had stayed in the living room so
she could concentrate. ‘Unless you’d like something else.’

‘Not at all.’ His hands still hidden inside the
robe, he leans against the door frame. His feet and ankles are pale
and slender – Christ-like. ‘I hope you’re not going to too much
trouble.’

‘No, all I have to do is broil the chicken.’ She
seasons the breasts liberally with salt and pepper, fresh minced
garlic from a jar, and dried rosemary. ‘I already had the Caesar
dressing made.’

‘You made it yourself?’

‘Yes, I love Caesar dressing.’ She doesn’t look
at him. ‘But it’s so fattening with all that oil, you know, so I
came up with a fat-free version that tastes pretty good,
considering.’

‘You mean it doesn’t have to be sinful to taste
good?’

‘No,’ she slips the breasts under the broiler,
‘it just has to be complex. There are more ingredients in the
sinless version, which in this case also happens to make it more
nutritional.’ She reaches up into a cabinet, and sets two black
salad bowls down on the counter.

‘I can’t wait to try your unique combination of
ingredients, Carmen.’

She laughs, hoping he doesn’t realize how much
his presence is affecting her. ‘I’d better go put your clothes in
the dryer.’

Instead of stepping back out of her way, he
turns in the doorway so she is forced to brush up against him as
she leaves the kitchen. ‘Is there anything I can do to help,
Carmen?’

‘Just keep on eye on the breasts for me.’

‘I’m more of a leg man. They’re the first thing
I noticed about you.’

She laughs again shyly, and steps away from him.
‘I meant the chicken…’

‘I know what you meant. Those are great sandals,
baby. Put your foot on that chair for me.’

‘What? Why?’

‘Just do it.’

She hesitates, because she knows her dress is
short enough that lifting her leg will reveal most of it, but in
the end she obeys him.

He casually rests his left hand on the base of
her spine and the other one on the back of her raised thigh. He
caresses it slowly, and her breath catches when his fingers brush
her panty line. She can’t help wondering if they would feel as good
as Will’s, and the thought makes her so receptive to his touch that
she is disappointed when he lets go of her and steps back.

‘Very nice,’ he says quietly.

She brings her leg down, shyly avoiding his
eyes. ‘I’ll be right back.’ She escapes into the bathroom, where
she collects the amazingly heavy material of his suit that he
graciously placed in the bathtub along with his wet socks. ‘You can
also open a bottle of wine if you like,’ she tells him on her way
out.

‘I usually don’t drink at lunch,’ he crouches
down in front of her rack, ‘but today I’ll make an exception. Hurry
back.’

She runs down the covered stairs, but the wind
still manages to hit her with sharp little spears of rain.

The laundry room is empty, and the small space
is even damper and stuffier than usual.

She pulls on a frayed old rope to switch on the
naked bulb hanging from the ceiling, and tosses the heavy bundle of
Jay’s clothes into the dark bowel of the ancient dryer.

The wind abruptly slams the door closed behind
her, muting the roar of the downpour.

She sets the dryer on low, and turns to go.

The door won’t open.

Carmen jiggles the knob and pulls, but the door
seems to be jammed shut. The humidity must have swollen the wood,
yet it still seems unreal that she can’t even budge it.

‘I don’t believe this!’

The light flickers above her.

She pulls on the door again, and stumbles
backwards as the rusty knob comes off in her hands.

The dryer’s mellow hum is cut short,
surrendering to the storm’s wet fury as the light goes out, and
plunges her into a roaring darkness.

She drops the cold metal sphere, unconsciously
crossing her arms over her chest as she leans back against the cool
washing machine, and sinks slowly to her knees.

Jay doesn’t know where the laundry room is, but
he is a smart man. She’s sure he will come for her and get her out
of here. There isn’t anything for her to be worried about. The
absolute darkness is just merely sapping her reason, as if her
brain cells need light to function properly. There aren’t any
windows, but the room can’t possibly be airtight, she has plenty of
air…

…Lying deep in the cave, she can still hear the
pounding roar of the ocean at high tide…

‘Carmen, are you in there?’

Her voice emerges
as a dry whisper, ‘Yes…’ She clears her throat. ‘
Yes, get me out of here!’

‘Move away from the door.’

Sage decides she likes this human male after all
and expresses her approval by jumping onto his lap and sprawling
across it in that boneless way of felines.

‘Jay, you shouldn’t let her lie on top of you
like that if you’re allergic.’

‘It won’t make any difference, and at least she
keeps me warm.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry, are you cold? I’ll put the air
conditioner on energy saver.’

‘That’s all right. I had no idea a simple lunch
date could prove to be such an adventure. Let’s see… first, I
nearly drown trying to find the place. Then, after I finally make
it here, I have to struggle to breathe.’ He caresses Sage, who
responds with a thunderous purr. ‘After that, flames start
billowing out of the kitchen and I have to put out a fire before
rescuing you from the laundry room dungeon. Now, I’m freezing to
death. I could have had a less eventful lunch in the heart of the
rain forest. It was delicious though, and well worth it for the
company, thank you.’

‘I know it’s cooled off outside, but I hate it
when my furniture gets all damp from the humidity.’ She feels
compelled to defend her environmentally sinful love of
air-conditioning.

He stares fixedly over her shoulder as if seeing
a ghost, and sneezes.

Sage jumps disdainfully off his lap.

Carmen also gets up, to get him a tissue.

The power surged back the second he kicked the
laundry room door open and found her crouched against the washer.
She is still embarrassed about that; she had never realized how
claustrophobic she was.

During lunch neither one of them had mentioned
the incident. Instead, they made typical first-date conversation
even though she had sensed he was just as bored as she was by the
usual questions and answers.

‘Here.’ She hands him a tissue. ‘Your clothes
should be dry by now.’

He blows his nose. ‘Are you so anxious to get
rid of me?’

‘Not at all, I just thought that since you’re
getting so congested…’

‘I’ll be all right.’ He gets up and stares
seriously down into her eyes. ‘But I suppose I should get
dressed.’

She doesn’t say anything.

‘I’ll go get my clothes this time.’

She clears the table while he’s gone, and is
beginning to wonder what’s keeping him when he finally returns.

‘I hope your suit isn’t ruined, Jay.’

‘No, I was just inspecting the door.’ He steps
cautiously around kittens, pausing beside her on his way to the
bedroom. ‘I don’t see how it could have jammed like that.’

‘Well, it did,’ she insists.

‘Carmen, did you realize you were
claustrophobic?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Then maybe there’s other things you don’t know
about yourself.’

Before she can ask him what he means by that, he
turns away.

He reappears a few minutes later. His shirt and
pants are in serious need of ironing, and he didn’t bother putting
his tie or his jacket back on. ‘I hope I can make it to the car
without being seen.’

‘I’m sorry you had such a disastrous time,
Jay.’

He comes and stands so close to her that she has
to throw her head back to look at him. ‘I enjoyed myself very much,
Carmen.’

His eyes are such a soft deep gray, yet the look
in them is hard, like a stone wall veiled in mist. Once again his
bone structure arrests her, and how firm his perfect mouth looks
when he smiles suddenly makes her feel weak. If she can’t feel his
lips against hers she’ll die. He has to kiss her goodbye.

He tosses his jacket and tie onto the couch,
cups her face with both hands, and lowers his head until their
mouths are almost touching.

She closes her eyes breathlessly.

He lets go of her.

She looks up at him again, dazed. Their breaths
had mingled, their souls had mysteriously ached to touch through
the bodies of their lips, and he had pulled back. She sounds like a
hurt little girl as she asks, ‘Don’t you want to kiss me?’

‘Yes, I do, very much, which is probably why I
shouldn’t.’

She places her hands on his chest and slides
them up towards his neck.

He grabs her wrists. ‘No.’ He lowers her
hands.

‘Please,’ she whispers.

‘Please what?’ he asks sternly.

‘Please kiss me,’ she begs softly.

‘Would you be happy with just one kiss?’

‘Yes.’

Her eyes close again in an agony of
disappointment when he turns away. She braces herself for the sight
of him picking up his jacket and tie, and can scarcely believe it
when she looks, and sees him sit down on the couch instead.

‘Come here, baby.’

She obeys him as if hypnotized. She is ready to
do anything he says if it means he’ll kiss her before he leaves,
because he can’t, he just can’t, leave without kissing her.

He pats his thighs. ‘Sit on me. No, not you,’ he
tells Sage, who was about to obey him. ‘No, not like that,’ he is
addressing Carmen again now, ‘like this.’ One hand grabs her arm
while the other one clasps her behind the knee, and pulls her down
on top of him.

Her short dress hikes around her thighs and the
thin skin of panty protecting her pussy lands right over his hard
on. She gasps from the shock of feeling it pressing up against her
before their lips have even touched, before they have politely
gotten to know a little more about each other in a kiss. Her body’s
intense response is another surprise, and it frightens her a
little, as if she is daring to play with electricity while soaking
wet. She rests her hands on his shoulders as the thrill of knowing
she excites him dominates every other feeling.

His hands rest lightly on her hips. ‘Now I’m
ready for that kiss.’

Her nipples become painfully firm little magnets
straining towards his warm chest as she attempts to keep some
distance between them. She is trying desperately not to fall into a
dangerous desire to fuck him right then and there as she finally
gets the kiss that was all she wanted. At least she thought it was
all she wanted, until he made her realize otherwise. And almost as
if to punish her for being so naïve, he keeps his lips sealed,
denying her access to his tongue and any real intimacy with him
apart from the impersonal, undeniable one, going on between the
bulge in his slacks and her wet panty. She tosses the hair out of
her eyes in breathless pleasure and frustration, but refuses to
humiliate herself with another attempt at a real kiss.

His hands slip up into her dress and around to
her ass. ‘Happy now?’ He gives each tender cheek a hard
squeeze.

‘No…’

‘Oh, really?’ Another brief smile touches his
hard mouth. ‘Why not?’

Avoiding his eyes she struggles with the urge to
rub up against him. Her vulva is deliciously full of his stiffness,
and his helmet rests in his pants in such a way that it is in
direct contact with her clitoris.

‘Go on, baby,’ he says gently.

She can’t possibly resist the fact that he read
her mind and the tension in her body. She begins moving her hips
back and forth against him tentatively, then a little more boldly
as she gets carried away by the pleasure.

‘Look at me, Carmen.’

She was embarrassed to feel herself climaxing
almost as quickly as she did the first time, but as she obeys him
now and meets his eyes, she realizes it is going to be much more
intense. His stare seems to penetrate straight through to her soul,
telling her things about herself that her mind doesn’t dare grasp
but which her body understands right away, and has no problem
accepting. ‘Oh, God,’ she whispers.

‘Yes?’ he whispers back.

The arrogant arch of his eyebrow gives her body
the mysterious push it needs. She is scarcely aware of shifting her
grasp from his shoulders to his head as she comes, his hair a
divinely cool fire between her fingers.

When her insides feel solid again she opens her
eyes, unable to believe what just happened. And suddenly his still
buried erection feels like an accusation, like degrading proof of
how easy she is. She hangs her head in shame, avoiding his eyes
again. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispers, ‘that was selfish of me.’

‘No,’ he caresses the hair away from both sides
of her face, urging her to look at him, ‘you did exactly as I told
you to. You were a good girl, and I’m very pleased with you.’

The happiness that rises in her almost makes her
feel she could purr.

‘But now,’ his right hand gently spanks her
bottom, ‘I have to go.’

Even though her knees are a bit stiff, she
manages to get up gracefully.

He picks up his jacket and tie. ‘We’ll have
dinner tonight,’ he informs her, heading for the door.

She follows him. ‘What time?’

He steps outside, where it has stopped raining.
‘I’ll pick you up at eight.’ He glances back at her over his
shoulder. ‘Don’t do any more laundry today.’

*

Fortunately Carmen has plenty of chores to
occupy her body, although not even a hurricane could turn her
thoughts away from Jay. She wants to take advantage of her half day
off, so she decides to do her grocery shopping. She hopes not to
have time over the weekend.