Three weeks had passed.
Chris was surprised at noticing Karen behind her desk Monday morning. He almost bolted from the room in sheer shock!
"Thought someone had broken in for a moment." He managed to catch his breath at the realisation that she'd come back.
"So now I'm an intruder?" She smirked, taking mild amusement in his little jump. That was certainly one way to get his adrenaline going – and she didn't have to do anything!
"Well, you've been away for so long…" He came closer to her, standing in front of her desk in such a way that it drew her gaze directly to his flat stomach. "I was sort of getting used to being in charge."
"Well, you've been well and truly deposed now." She teased, emerging from behind her desk and startling him at the fact that she could pretty much walk without her crutches and there was hardly any trace of a limp coming from her.
"Wow," he breathed faintly, "I guess I don't need to ask how you're feeling."
She laughed a little at his incredulous comment. "Well, a few aches here and there, but a few sessions of physio will sort that out."
"Don't think you'll get an easy ride from those," Chris smirked playfully, "they are quite intensive and you've got to really work at strengthening your leg to the way it was pre-accident."
"You've been so good to me," Karen stated, "and I don't know how I can ever thank you."
"You don't need to." He made to go, realising what the time was. "I don't give to receive. And we're friends, aren't we? You don't have to repay me for looking out for you."
She drew in a small sigh. If only they were more than that.
"If you want any help, you only have to ask." He added. "I haven't got any sets going on, but I'm more than happy to help out with anything you've got problems with."
"Oh, I see." Her voice sounded teasing but not flirty. "You just can't resist, can you?"
He gazed away coyly. "I guess not." He blushed in slight modesty, which she couldn't help but find adorable – especially when the minor pinkness reached his cheeks and he was trying like mad to stop it.
After work.
Chris came into the room, still seeing her work. "You know, for someone who's just gotten over a broken leg, you're not really doing yourself any favours."
She peered up from what she was writing, considerably pleased at seeing him still in the building. "Would you like to explain to me why that may be?"
"For a start," Chris tilted his head towards the light switch, "you shouldn't be straining your eyes like that." He knew it'd turned into a pretty awful day as it had teemed it down and darkened the sky outside, but he wasn't sure why she had the main light on – and why the heck was it so bright?
Karen noted his comment. "My lamp's decided to stop working," she explained, "so the main light was the only other option."
"I'm surprised that sort of light hasn't blinded you by now." He teased. "You must be close to getting a migraine with brightness like that."
She smiled a little at his joke.
"Also…" His bright blue eyes shimmered within the lustre. "You should start thinking about going home and recharging. Staying behind when you should be recovering will only slow it all down again."
"Then why are you still here?"
"'Cause I know you would still be here." He made to go and fetch her a dimmer bulb.
He didn't want her to get a headache, especially when she still remembers very little about the incident she was in. He knew concussion could do all sorts to people, even weeks after being in an accident, and he would've hated anything to worsen it.
She didn't know what he was playing at, but she raised an eyebrow at seeing him come back with a dimmer bulb and a ladder. She felt quite lucky at having to watch him. "That's Rob's job."
"Well Rob isn't here." Chris leant against the opened-out ladder. "So you've got me."
He got up to the full height on the ladder, prompting her to cast her gaze down his body from his strong shoulder blades, down the slender sides of his waist and to his nicely formed legs. Even looking at him from behind was just as nice as it was from the front.
She licked her lower lip at the thought of touching him while he was doing that. He was completely helpless. There was nowhere for him to go if she'd gone up behind him and put her hands on him.
Although the unexpected touch alone would probably have been enough for him to jump off the ladder and come to a very sorry state on the floor. The last thing she would've wanted was for him to get hurt.
He dexterously twisted the brighter bulb out of its fitting, sliding the dimmer one in its place. "You should get on better with that one."
She could see his strong lower back muscles through the t-shirt.
Even though he was wearing black, just to see the firm flesh ripple alluringly under it was making her melt inside. It was movement that was begging her, screaming at her to do something about the way he was unknowingly teasing her.
Chris dismounted from the ladder, leaning against it. "I've done my bit of DIY for now."
She watched him fold it back up and slip the brighter bulb into his back pocket. She knew where he was going and she wanted to follow him.
He was surprised at how he wasn't even breaking a sweat at carrying such a heavy ladder. He propped it up against the wall in the storage cupboard, unaware of who happened to be behind him.
He jolted at seeing Karen within touching distance and he backtracked further into the cupboard.
It was quite a spacious unit; big enough to fit two, maybe three people, and it wasn't exactly dark as there was a light hanging from the ceiling.
"I haven't thanked you." She noted huskily, taking in that scent – that temptingly musky scent that lingered over her when he was with her in her room that night.
"Y-you don't have to." He was slightly startled at her following him into the cupboard, but he wasn't put off at how close she was. The startled feeling rose when he backtracked up against the wall and she placed her hands on his hips.
She smiled at his response. "You're being so coy," she softly caressed him under his jaw, drawing the dewy flesh downwards against his neck, "and it's really very cute."
Chris wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he could safely say it could be something he might not like. Was she going to hurt him? Highly unlikely. Was she going to touch him in an inappropriate way? Not so unlikely.
She pressed her body into his, her excitement increasing at their proximity.
Both bodies were in contact – her stomach pressing into his much flatter one. She continued the caressing under his jaw, prompting him to automatically tilt his head upwards so their lips could meet.
Calmly and swiftly, she brought her lips against his and their flesh melted together. Warm surges coursed through her at the contact, and she licked his lower lip to get him to part his mouth and let her enter.
He wasn't playing along, disillusioning her somewhat. She thought she'd surprised him into submission, but he must've already been aware of what she was intending on doing with him.
He could only remain there and let her carry on. The way she was kissing him wasn't exactly sloppy, it was quite careful, but he couldn't reciprocate if he didn't feel like it.
Karen had to consider that the contact between them sufficed for then. She refrained from touching him anywhere else, knowing that he could well refuse it by pulling her hands away from him. To get him to automatically react to her was enough. After all, to kiss him felt just as nice as she thought.
Chris pulled himself away, reaching the stage where he was almost gasping out for air. He managed to get his breath back, his bright blue eyes wild with disbelief.
She licked her lower lip, taking in a very faint yet appetisingly sweet taste on it. He tasted as good as he felt. It was getting too much for her and she was fast approaching a point where she wanted to have him!
A confused blush graced his cheeks, and he swallowed hard before thinking about what to say to her. "Why…?" His voice came out pale and faint.
She said nothing, but moved a little further away when he felt so shocked that he ended up losing his balance yet managed to correct himself by catching the wall.
"I-I don't understand…why do that to me?"
She knew that what she'd done was very, very wrong. He didn't ask for that sort of contact, even though the temptation was just there…eating away at her like anything.
She knew that she'd quite badly hurt him, by wanting to make him do something he didn't really want to.
"K-Karen…please answer me. Why did you kiss me?"
"I…" She saw a shocked expression forming on his face, and it became even more shocked when she failed to answer him. He deserved to know why she'd forced herself on him, but telling him it was simply because he tempted her wasn't enough.
Chris realised that he wasn't going to get an answer from her, and rather than try to press her any further about why she almost shoved her tongue into his mouth, decided to simply leave their encounter as that. He swiftly exited from the storage cupboard without another word, knowing that he had to get back home.
Karen decided to pack up and go home. She'd half expected the young male to have come back to her room, but everything seemed pretty much in the same place when she'd left to follow him once he made to put the ladder back from where it came from.
What could she have done about what she did? He was just too tempting. If he hadn't have offered to change her bulb for her then she may not have kissed him.
So in a way, it was kind of his fault.
Yet she couldn't help but want him. The urge for her to take him grew more and more, even more so when he did inadvertently seductive things like that.
The dark fabric of the t-shirt clung to his slender form, accentuating the firm flesh at either side of his waist. She could make out the defined curves of his shoulder blades as he dexterously twisted the replacement bulb into the outlet. It was all driving her crazy, the entire act becoming some form of a striptease – without the music, stripping and lights.
It was certainly something she wouldn't have minded seeing again.