Chapter 4

Carmen unlocked her door and they stepped inside. “I’d suggest a nightcap but I have nothing to offer,” she said.

“That is no problem at all.” Chris said as he slipped out of his blazer, undid his necktie and unbuttoned his collar. Then, he grasped the brim of her hat, lifted from her and set it on a side table. They embraced and kissed. He held her tightly and she rested her face on his shoulder. He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Are you trying to give me a hickey there?”

“I’m inhaling your scent and tasting your skin,” he replied. Then he began covering her scalp with kisses.

“Hey — I told you not to do that. You’re kissing the part of me I hate most.”

“That is why I’m kissing you there,” he said. “I want you to embrace it.”

“Embrace it? I’m barely accepting it.”

“I’ll stop if you insist.”

“I don’t insist.” Carmen rested her face on his shoulder and he resumed kissing her head. “I admit I like the attention you give me. It feels good.”

“You have such a pretty, long neck,” he remarked. “It looks longer without hair.” He kissed both sides of her neck.

Chris took her hand and led her to her sofa. He sat and coaxed her onto his lap. “You are so pretty,” he said and kissed her lips. He kissed her again, this time exploring her lips and teeth with the tip of his tongue.

“Are you serious?” she asked. “Do you really want me?”

“Yes I want you, and I have never been more serious in my life.” He caressed her cheek. “I have never wanted anyone more than I want you ... Carmen, what’s wrong?”

“I want it, too ... But...”

“Hey — if you’re not ready ... we’ll wait.”

“Oh, I’m ready. It’s just ... A flood of insecurities just washed over me.”

“You have nothing to be insecure about,” he replied. “You’re beautiful in a unique way. I admire you and I envy your abilities.” He leaned toward her and kissed her lips.

“You really envy me?”

“Very much.” Chris unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse. He parted the fabric and kissed her chin and down her neck, planting a long and tender kiss on her tracheotomy scar.

“Why did you kiss me there?” she asked.

“Because without that scar, you wouldn’t be here. That scar saved your life and I love it for that.”

Chris began slipping his finger under the fabric of her blouse. “Christian...”

“What, Carmen?”

“I’m not very experienced — it’s one of my insecurities. I’ve only had one other partner.”

“Brian?”

She nodded. “Yes ... I lost my virginity to him ... we lost it together ... about a week before I fell ill.”

“That means you’re practically a virgin.”

“I guess that’s what it means. But, Christian — don’t confuse inexperience with ignorance. I might be inexperienced, but I’m not uneducated.”

“I understand. Now, let’s set some ground rules,” he said. “Rule number one: If anything feels uncomfortable — say stop and we stop. Got it?”

Carmen nodded. “Understood. I trust you, Christian. I have absolute, utter confidence in you. Nonetheless, it does mean a lot to me to hear you say that. What’s rule number two?”

“Rule number two: Rule number one is absolute.” One by one he unbuttoned the buttons on her blouse.

She pulled the hem from the waistband of her skirt, slipped it off her shoulders and set it aside. Underneath she wore a strapless white satin bustier.

“You don’t see one of those every day,” he remarked.

“I was looking for something like a corset,” she replied, “without having to wear the genuine article.”

“You look good in it.” He ran his hands along her arms. “You have sexy arms, Carmen.” He caressed her forearm and the inside of her elbow. “I like your dark eyes and pale skin.”

“Pale. I must look like I have prison pallor.”

“You’ve kept yourself out of the sun,” he replied, “and that keeps your skin youthful. I love this blue vein...” He traced it along the inside of her forearm.

Chris smoothed the backs of his fingers across the satin cups of her bustier. Carmen closed her eyes and drew in a breath. “Mmm...” She drew in another breath. “Feels good,” she whispered.

“I have protection,” he said as he caressed her breasts through the white satin. He thought he could discern her nipple firming. “On my way home this afternoon I stopped and bought some condoms. I put a few in my pocket.”

“Was that wishful thinking?” she asked.

“I was being prepared,” he replied. “Better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them.”

“Good thinking on your part. I hadn’t given it a thought. Before I got sick I was on the pill ... haven’t been in years...”

“You can touch me, too, you know.”

Carmen unbuttoned his shirt and caressed his chest. “Feels really good, Christian. Maybe we should go to my bedroom.”

She held his hand and led him into her bedchamber. Heavy drapes covered the windows. Carmen switched on a low-wattage lamp on a nightstand. “Help me straighten the bed,” she said. “I’m not a very neat sleeper.”

Chris slipped off his shirt and faced her. He put his hands on her hips. Her long skirt had a zipper on the side. He unfastened the waistband and unzipped it, letting it drop to the floor. Carmen stepped from it and he picked it up and set it on a chair.

Underneath she wore high-cut white satin briefs that matched her bustier. “You have a lovely figure,” he remarked.

“With my thick thighs and butt?”

“I think you have sexy legs.” He removed a strip of condoms from his pocket and set them on her nightstand, then he stripped to his briefs and embraced her.

“It feels like something’s coming between us,” she remarked.

He held her hand against his briefs. “If you had any doubts about the impact you have on me.”

Carmen smiled. “Very nice.” Chris pressed his palms against her sides and caressed her breasts through the satin with his thumbs. “That feels good,” she said softly. “Mmm...”

“How does this thing fasten?” he asked.

“In back,” she said and turned around. Chris slipped his arms around her waist and began kissing and nuzzling her neck and shoulders. “That feels nice, too.”

He began unhooking the row of fasteners on the back of her garment. “As someone who’s fumbled with a bra strap,” he remarked, “this looks like a nightmare. How do you manage to get this on?”

“It takes some practice.”

He released the last hook and slipped her bustier from her. Chris embraced her from behind and resumed nuzzling her neck. He looked down on her B-cup sized breasts, firm and round with poker-chip sized, tan areolas and small nipples. “Outstanding,” he remarked. Forming his hands into loose fists he ran the backs of his knuckles across her nipples, washboard style, and ended each stroke with a gentle pinch. Carmen drew in a breath and released it with a soft moan.

She reached down and back, grasping his buttocks and squeezing them. “I think I want to lie down,” she said.

“Time to muss up your bed again.” He turned back the covers and she slid in between the sheets. Chris joined her. They lay, facing each other and caressing each other’s faces. He kissed her lips, holding her around the back of her neck and caressing her smooth, bald head.

She lifted her face and he covered her chin, neck and upper chest with kisses. Chris kissed her nipple. He rimmed her tan areola with his tongue. “You have such lovely, firm breasts,” he remarked. Carmen caressed the back of his head and pressed his face against her breast. He kissed her nipple again, this time drawing it into his mouth and gently tugging on it with his lips and teeth.

“Mmm,” she said. “Feels good ... other side?” She rolled partway onto her back so he could mouth and tongue her right breast.

Chris kissed her abdomen and tongued her navel. “You have a sexy tummy,” he remarked, “and a cute little belly button. You are beautiful, Carmen.”

“You keep saying that.”

“I’ll keep saying it until you start believing it,” he replied. “Then, I’ll keep saying it.”

“I do believe ... that you believe it.”

“I want you to believe it — because it’s true.” He turned down the covers to expose her legs. Kneeling near her he caressed her calves. “You have pretty legs,” he said. “I love feeling your anatomy ... the muscles in your calves and the tendons in your knees ... your sturdy thighs...”

“Sturdy is the polite word for them.”

“They feel like solid muscle,” he replied as he massaged her thighs. “I don’t detect any flab.” He began caressing the inside of her thigh from her knee upward and teasing her labia through the satin of her briefs. With his other hand he caressed her abdomen, reaching now and then up to her breasts and stroking her nipples. Carmen made soft noises in the back of her throat as he caressed her.

Chris grasped the waistband of her briefs. She lifted her buttocks from the mattress and he slid them from her. Moistening his finger on his tongue he cupped his hand over her smooth mons and worked it between her labia. “Feels hard as a pebble,” he remarked as he stroked her clit. “You feel pretty wet.”

“I’ve never been this aroused in my life,” she replied. “It all feels so good, Christian.”

He lay beside her, his hand over her mons and stroking her clit. Chris eased his knee between hers and she tightened her legs against it. He held her around her shoulder and gazed into her eyes. “Mmm... “ she said. “Right there ... that’s the right spot. Just like that...”

“Touch me,” he said. He looked deeply into her eyes. She caressed his face and then stroked his chest. “Feels good to me. You have such pretty, dark eyes.”

Carmen’s eyelids drifted half-way closed. Her lips parted and her breathing grew deep and heavy. “Christian,” she panted, “Just a little faster ... Mmm ... That’s perfect.”

She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. “More,” she gasped. “I’m coming! MORE!”

He stroked her clit furiously. Carmen let out a moan. She drew up her knees and her belly jerked. “Oh, stop,” she gasped. Then her body fell limp, and her lips formed a broad smile. “Mmm,” she sighed.