"The Neighbors"

Listen, Miss Paily, I feel bad that you feel like you can't comment on Emaya stories, you don't need to shut up. I guess my attempt at humor failed miserably. But I think given the circumstances you would feel the same way if your ship was wrongfully taken away from you. The Emayans are protective of their Emaya and they are protective of their Emayan writers as well. And I think you would be too.

I applaud you for being brave enough to review an Emaya story positively. You are still welcome to leave your reviews and I would still love to read them as well as everyone else's.

I think we're all in this story together and I can't thank you guys enough for embracing it along with me, it means a lot.

Now back to the story…

So, Emily and Maya are alone in her art studio when their feelings for each other really come to life. Let's see what happens next…

Rated M for Mature Content.

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Chapter 10: When the Time is Right

Emily POV

"Umm, just let me take your picture so I can continue to work on you."

Damn Maya, you don't need a camera to work on me.

"Okay, so give me that smile I know I make you smile."

Did she just say the smile she knows she makes me smile? I can't believe she just said that! I can't believe she knows!

"There, that's perfect. Okay then, why don't you put your robe back on and umm get dressed."

I get up off of the bed, my nipples are reacting to the cold, I'm about to reach for my robe when Maya turns around. My breathing quickens, my heart is racing because she's really looking at me now, really looking at me. No longer Maya the artist, but yes Maya my neighbor, yes Maya my friend, yes Maya the woman who kissed me so passionately last night, yes Maya my soon to be lover…

Knock, knock…

"Hey Maya, you in there?" yells Josh.

We're snapped out of our trance, I grab my robe while Maya answers,

"Oh sorry honey, I'm working!"

"Well, finish up and join me for a drink."

"Okay!"

We hear him walk away so I bolt out the door to the bathroom to change while Maya tidies up. Then we walk out to the deck together.

"Oh hey Em, I didn't know you were here. I think Ryan's looking for you," remarks Josh.

"Emily was watching me paint."

"Yeah, she's so disciplined. I was really impressed."

"Nothing can keep her from staying focused on her art work."

"I noticed," replies Emily with a shy smile. "Anyway, I better go so Ryan doesn't worry."

"Okay, bye Em," Maya says sweetly with that head tilt.

"Bye," I say knowing that it really isn't goodbye.

I gather my things and go back to my house thinking about what just happened. I find Ryan upstairs and he gives me a welcoming hug and a pretty passionate kiss.

"What was that for?" I ask.

"I just wanted to remind you of how much I love you," he says so seriously.

"I, I love you too," I say looking into his eyes wondering, what the hell am I doing?

We get ready for bed and he wants to have sex but I ask him if we can just cuddle instead so we do. But the whole time I'm in his arms, I'm thinking about what almost happened between Maya and me. The way she looked at me without my clothes on. I know she wants to be with me just as much as I want to be with her. But we're in love with our husbands, aren't we? I think to myself as I look up at Ryan sleeping. But the kiss on top of the Empire State Building, and the almost kiss on the train and the almost kiss in the hot tub and lying together on the lounge chair and her hand sliding down down down to where I want it so badly and the kissing and her body on top of me on my couch kissing me some more and posing nude for her and coming so close to actually making love with her and wanting that more than anything! Oh, Maya, what the hell are we doing…

Maya POV

Josh goes to bed while I retreat to my art studio. I look at the unfinished painting of Emily and can't help but think about being with her intimately. I want to see her finished so I take out my cell phone to look at her picture. God, you're beautiful and I want you so badly! But I have this wonderful man asleep upstairs who loves me so much and I love him so much. So, why do I keep doing these things with you? I say to the beautiful picture of Emily I'm still gazing at. Why did we kiss so passionately last night? Why did I paint you nude knowing how I feel about you? If we hadn't been interrupted, I would have made love to you right then and there! The things I would have done to your body…dammit! I need to stop thinking about you! But I don't think I can…

One Week Before the Art Show…

I haven't seen Emily in over a week. I think we're both avoiding one another not knowing what exactly it is that we're doing. Josh and Ryan have been working from home too which is making it difficult to be around each other without giving us away. I decide to throw myself into my portrait of Emily locking myself from the outside world painting every detail of her amazing body but the things that make her even more amazing than just being a woman with a gorgeous body…her vulnerability, her sensitivity, her cute shyness, her smile that I know I make her smile, her laugh, her everything…

I decide to take a break to make some lunch when Josh approaches me with a serious look on his face.

"Josh, what is it?"

"I have some bad news about your Art Show."

"What do you mean?

"Our meeting that was postponed last week was rescheduled for this week. Ryan and I are going to be leaving on Wednesday and we won't be back until late Saturday."

"Seriously, you won't be there? You know how much my painting means to me," I say truly disappointed.

"I know babe, and I'm so sorry. But we can't miss this meeting. We've been working on this project for a while now and there's just no way that the company would let me or Ryan blow it off."

"I'm not asking you to blow it off. I'm just, this is what I do, this is what makes me happy, this is a huge part of who I am and I thought I would be sharing that part of me with you too," I say with sadness in my voice.

Josh wraps his arms around me holding me close to him. I let him hug me but I'm too upset to hug him back.

"Josh, you're gone all the time. I've been throwing myself into my work a lot lately and I've found my passion again. And the one person I thought I would be sharing it with is you." I never dreamed it would be with my new neighbor Emily instead and I never dreamed I would be falling so hard for her…

"Babe, I'll make it up to you. We'll go away just the two of us or…"

"Or what?"

"I bet Ryan is going through the same thing with Emily. After this deal we'll all go away together. You'd like that wouldn't you?"

I pull away from Josh just enough to look into his eyes reminding myself of why I love him so much. But it's not enough, it's just not what I feel when I'm with her…

I put my arms around his neck and say, "Your right, I would like that." More than you could possibly imagine…

Emily POV

I haven't seen Maya in over a week. I think we're both avoiding one another not knowing what exactly it is that we're doing. Ryan and Josh have been working from home too which is making it difficult to be around each other without giving us away. I decide to throw myself in my novel since I've been studying the art for the show pretty much nonstop since I posed for Maya. I can still see the look in her eyes when I stood naked before her. It was a look I've never seen before from anyone who's ever seen me like that, not even from Ryan. I can't explain it, here I am married four years but I meet Maya and fall so hard after, what, a little over a month? How is that even possible?

Suddenly there's a knock on the door snapping me out of my thoughts. Ryan walks in to say,

"Hey babe. Working on your novel?"

"Yeah," I say closing my laptop so he can't see it.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it Ryan?" He sounds so serious, it's scaring me.

"I have a bit of bad news."

"Bad news?"

"Yeah, ya know that meeting Josh and I were supposed to go to?"

"What about it?"

"Well, it got rescheduled."

"For when?"

"This week. We leave Wednesday and won't be back until late Saturday."

"Wait, that means you're going to miss the Art Show."

"I know honey, and I'm sorry for that. I know you've been working really hard with Maya and I really wanted to be there to support you."

"I wanted you there too. I really like it and I wouldn't have minded having the extra support to keep my nerves intact." Or maybe this is how it should be. Do I really want him to know about the painting?

I get up to hug Ryan letting him know I'm okay with it. He hugs me back with so much love; I can feel his heartbeat quickening. We pull away slightly looking at each other and he says,

"I'm so sorry I won't be there but I'm so glad you will be with Maya."

"What?"

"You know, have a good friend like Maya to support you in your new position at the gallery."

"Yeah, she's a good friend." A really good friend.

Our moment is interrupted when we hear,

"Hey anybody home?"

"Yeah hang on a minute we'll be right there," responds Ryan.

It's Josh and Maya. I haven't seen her in a while and my heart leaps out of my chest. I can feel my body warming and I can feel that smile forming on my face that only she can make me smile.

"Sorry to barge in like this but the door was open and you said we're always welcome," reminds Josh.

"Yeah, of course, no worries. Come in. What's up?" asks Ryan.

"So, Maya knows about the business trip and I'm assuming Emily does now too."

"Yep, I just told her."

"Well Josh wants to make it up to us Emily," Maya says with a bit of excitement in her voice which makes me smile even more.

"And how does he think he can make it up to us?" I ask.

"I thought we could all go away together on a vacation."

My head pops up. My eyes grow wide. My heart beats faster. My body is giving me away! Oh Emily, try to contain your excitement!

"That's a great idea Josh! I bet the girls would love that!"

Oh yeah we would!

"Any destination in mind?" asks Ryan.

"Definitely someplace warm where we can swim since we've had to close up the pool for the season," suggests Maya with a wink.

My eyes open for a quick second while my head tilts downward trying to mask the euphoria I'm feeling right now while at the same time hiding that smile she makes me smile.

I compose myself, looking up at Ryan to say, "Someplace warm, definitely just like Maya said."

"Great! Then it's settled. And since Ryan and I still feel bad about missing your show, how about you two pick the place? Anywhere you want, anything you want," insists Josh.

Hmmm, anything I want…

"Yeah whatever you girls want," seconds Ryan.

Maya and I hug our husbands peeking over their shoulders making eye contact. We couldn't have asked for a more romantic gesture than going away together…

Ryan goes next door to continue working on their project for the big meeting with Josh while Maya joins me in the study. I walk over to my desk leaning against it while Maya closes and locks the door. We haven't seen each other, touched each other, or kissed each other in over a week and I can barely stand it…

Maya sash shays over to me in her tight jeans, her tight t-shirt, her sexy knee high boots, her wicked smile, her beautiful long dark straight as a pin hair, her smoldering eyes and says quite simply,

"I missed you."

"I missed you too," I reply back reaching for her to settle between my legs.

Mmmmm, a perfect fit.

She puts her arms around my neck looking so lovingly into my eyes and says, "I'm sorry if it seemed like I was avoiding you."

"I think we were avoiding each other," I reply looking just as deeply into her eyes.

She takes her hand to brush away the hair that has fallen in my face and says, "The night I painted you. It was so hard for me to stay focused. I think I've wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you."

My heart beats faster, "I feel the same way but I was getting a little freaked out while you were painting me."

"What? Why?" she asks so sweetly with such genuine concern.

"I was upset that you weren't looking at me that way while you were painting me."

"That way?"

"You were so serious about your painting, I thought that seeing me nude would have made you more excited but you stayed completely professional," I say with disappointment written all over my face.

"Oh, I see. You were upset because you thought I was treating you like any other model," she says with an adoring smile.

"Yeah, I think that's exactly what I was feeling."

"Well, just so you know, I was struggling inside to stay professional. I had to fight the urge to look at you as anything but a work of art."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I made myself see you as a model so that I wouldn't take advantage of the situation. You trusted me and I wasn't going to let you down. But then when I looked up and saw you standing there in all your natural beauty, I was dumbfounded, I couldn't move. I could no longer fight my feelings for you," she says with a sweet kiss on my lips.

"I know. If we hadn't been interrupted..."

"Mmmm. Hmmm. I would've made love to you…"

Upon hearing her say that, my body starts to tremble and I know she can feel it. Our eyes look deeply into one another's souls; our lips grow closer together until they meet sending a rush of euphoria throughout our bodies. I pull her closer to me pressing her body firmly against me moving my hands up and down her back settling on her sexy bottom. She wraps her arms tightly around my neck keeping our lips locked in place. Her tongue finds mine delving into an abyss of need and want and desire. Her lips seal over mine moving against me wildly, passionately, wantingly. We break away breathing so intensely knowing we need to stop before we take this to that other place. I smile that smile only she can make me smile and say,

"As much as I want to keep kissing you, I think we need to slow down."

"Mmmm. Hmmm," is all I hear as she nibbles my neck, sucking, licking, kissing.

My eyes roll into the back of my head as I want her so much but not here. It doesn't feel right.

"Maya, seriously, we can't."

She stops kissing me keeping her lips pressed against my neck then moving her mouth to just below my earlobe to say, "I know. You're right. I, I just want you so much."

I put my hand on the side of her face bringing her eyes to look at me and say, "I want you so much too. But not here."

She snuggles into me, resting her head on my shoulder and says, "I can wait. I want it to be perfect just like you."

"Oh, Maya, you make me feel things I've never felt before."

She lifts her head staring directly into my eyes, "And so do you…"

She kisses me gently on the lips and walks away. Leaving me to watch her sash shay out just as she sash shayed in…

But just as she walks through the door, she turns to me and says, "Don't forget to think about the most perfect vacation getaway…"

She winks and just like that she's gone leaving me with all sorts of feelings and thoughts and desires…

I sit there for a minute trying to regain my senses shaking away the euphoria within me. I flip open my laptop with a renewed inspiration typing away at jet speed. Hours go by before I realize its dinner time and before you know it, its bedtime. Ryan falls asleep with me in his arms while I lie awake thinking about what an incredible man I'm married too but what an incredible woman I'm falling for…

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To be continued…

They can't make love until after the Art Show. It has to be that way.

Please stick with me, I will make it worth your while…

**And thanks for continuing to read my College Years and Bianshay stories. I don't know if people are just discovering them or if they are rereading them. But "Bianshay by Request" is definitely one of my favorites and I can see that it's one of yours too!**