The Big Chill
By Aliaslaceygreen
Not mine, not making any money.
A new chapter. A Whiter Shade of Pale ended with the last chapter. I think I was the last to know. Challenge responses in here. Smut. You've been alerted.
I FEEL GOOD James Brown
Wo! I feel good, I knew that I wouldn't of
I feel good, I knew that I wouldn't of
So good, so good, I got you
Wo! I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you
When I hold you in my arms
I know that I can do no wrong
and when I hold you in my arms
My love won't do you no harm
and I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you
When I hold you in my arms
I know that I can't do no wrong
and when I hold you in my arms
My love can't do me no harm
and I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, well I got you
Wo! I feel good, I knew that I wouldn't of
I feel good, I knew that I would
So good, so good, 'cause I got you
So good, so good, 'cause I got you
So good, so good, 'cause I got you
Hey! Oh yeah-a...
I could hear my phone, trilling softly somewhere deep in the background. But my head was burrowed deeply under my blankets, and my ear was tucked firmly against warm skin. I had fallen asleep listening to Carlos heartbeat last night. No, it would have been early this morning, I considered and smiled to myself as I thought of what had kept us up so late. I didn't acknowledge the ringing. I was going to stay snuggled like this forever, I had decided. It was the most perfect spot in the entire universe.
Finally, the futility of the task occurred to the caller and the ringing stopped. I was sure if it was important, whoever thought calling at the ungodly hour of—well, this ungodly hour; I was NOT opening my eyes to judge the light; they could just call again. I was staying put. I breathed in deeply and took in the scent of Carlos's skin. Absolute heaven. And lust. It was heavenly lust.
I had learned over the past week that Carlos always smelled like this. It made no difference if he was outside, sweaty from running, or shooting hoops with Julie, or freshly showered, or midway through the day. The aura of Carlos was heavenly lust. I had discovered one morning as I showered at his home that heaven came in a bottle, labeled Bvlgari. It was the most astonishing scent. I was certain it seeped out of his pores! I wish any of the expensive gels and perfumes and lotions I owned would do that half as well. Ah, time for another deep breath. I could get high on this.
"Babe," I heard, or rather felt, rumble through Carlos's chest. It was a soft, sleepy sound, and the vibration against my ear amplified it in an odd way. Guess we're both awake now. His fingers began to run back and forth along my shoulder, and he pulled me more tightly to him as we lay together. He adjusted us slightly, so that my back was snuggled up to his front, and his arm draped over me. His fingertips found my nipple and he began to gently twist and pull on it, as his other hand roamed along my hip and belly. It was a slow, lazy exploration. I felt him grow hard behind me, his cock filling the space between us. It was insistent, pressing against the cheek of my ass, turning me on. I wiggled back at him, enjoying the pressure, beginning to feel that sensation of slow desire rise inside me. He pulled me back more tightly to him and thrust his hips gently against me and I gasped at how hard, how big he felt when we were so close.
"Babe," he whispered again, into my ear this time, tickling me with his breath. His fingers had reached down and were pinching my clit, rolling it between the pads of his fingers. Then he stopped, and moved them down lower, and two fingers plunged greedily inside me as he thrust himself against my ass. I gasped, and must have tensed. "Trust me babe," he breathed into my ear, and thrust again, his cock sliding between my legs. He shifted me slightly and thrust again and I found his fingers pulling out as his cock slid into me and I let out a sigh of pleasure. He began to work his hips, pulling, thrusting, pulling, and his hand went back to workingat my clit, his teeth nibbling at my ear, his tongue lapping at the delicate skin along my neck.
I lay in his arms, satiated and spent, his heavy breathing slowly adjusting to the sudden inertia of his body. His hands reached up and cupped my breasts, and he pulled me tightly against his chest. His voice was velvety as he spoke into my ear, "Happy Birthday, Babe."
"Thank you," I replied automatically, then twisted wildly around to look him in the eye. "How'd you know it was my birthday?" I asked suspiciously. He raised an eyebrow at me, trying in vain to indicate he knew all, but I wasn't buying it. I rolled my eyes at him, suddenly aware of this non-verbal communication that we seemed to use with each other. It's like some strange shorthand. He finally shrugged, admitting he was busted, and nodded his head toward the door.
"Phone call," he murmured. "Someone named Marylou called to wish you a happy birthday. She apologized for calling so early but her kids wanted to sing to you before they got on the school bus." His eyes looked pained as he told me, "They sang. There's a message." Poor guy had to listen to it and I didn't. I laughed then. "Yeah, they love me. I bet Mare put them up to it," I laughed lightly. I settled back into his arms, and closed my eyes. His arms felt so right wrapped around me.
"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday Babe?"
"I don't like birthdays. They just remind me of how quickly I am accomplishing so little in my life. I'm gonna be 30 next year!! I have nothing to show for it but a divorce."
"30, huh? I'll be 30 too."
"But you-- you've been in the Army, you have a career, and your daughter. You've done something."
"Babe."
"Well, you have!! I've just…well nothing. I've done nothing. 29 years of age and I live in an apartment building full of geriatric patients, drive a POS car and have a dead-end job."
"You are a wonderful mother to Rex."
"Carlos," I whined and smacked him on his shoulder playfully, giving him a mock-angry scowl as I did so. As my fingers first touched his flesh I realized I had made a mistake. He rolled over me and began to tickle me unmercifully. The tickling game escalated until we tumbled from the bed and he had me begging him for mercy with me on my hands and knees on the floor. He was the most inventive and sensual of men. I cried out in ecstasy as his thrusts became harder, and his methodical kneading of my breasts, and sucking and nipping along my neck sent me into orbit.
We climbed back up onto the bed and snuggled under the blankets when we were able to find the strength to move again. I must have dozed off, because when I woke again, Carlos was no longer acting as my personal pillow and bed warmer. I felt oddly lost and adrift as I contemplated how quickly I had adjusted my world to having Carlos a part of it. I opened my eyes, and spotted him sitting on the far side of the bed, his head in his hands, his naked back rippled with muscles and not a few scars. But something in the pose didn't inspire lust in me, but gloom.
Xxxxxxx
I awoke quickly, and immediately ran through a list of where I was, why I was there, whether I or anyone else was in danger. As if I were on a mission, all of these thoughts and more flashed through my brain before I raised my head from the pillow, before I took in the expanse of silky leg that peaked out from the pale lavender comforter that covered Stephanie.
As I shook my head to clear it, I tried to figure out what had brought on that mission mentality. I tried to analyze it, because I had learned long ago to listen to the voices in my head. I see disillusioned teens wearing a quote like that on their t-shirts all the time. They think it's funny. The funny thing is it's not so funny. It's a truth in your life to listen to that voice. It had saved my ass too many times to ignore.
So what was the voice trying to tell me?
I sat up and moved to the edge of her bed. I didn't want to disturb Stephanie; it was still pretty early for her, it was the weekend, and apparently, her birthday. And I had kept her up pretty late last night, I thought to myself.
I looked down at the carpet and caught sight of a scrap of black lace. I bent down and retrieved Stephanie's thong, and my mind wandered for a moment to last night, and how I had removed this little scrap of cloth with my teeth. I mindlessly held it in my hand and brought it to my face to inhale her scent. I felt myself quicken; shit, what she could do to me.
What was I going to do next? Stephanie had wrapped herself so inexorably in my life, in my heart, that the mere thought of leaving her this morning to pick Julie up from Marina's tortured me. Flinging the thong onto the rug again, I put my head in my hands and sighed deeply but silently.
I had gone off into myself and almost didn't notice her movements until she was about to touch me. I braced for the feel of her skin, for the electrical charge it always seemed to give me. "Carlos," she whispered into my ear. Her bare breasts were pressing against my back, she was up on her knees behind me and her arms were wrapped loosely around my neck. She rested her head on my shoulder and tried to get me to look at her.
"What's the matter, Carlos? You look like you lost your best friend."
"Nothing," I said, refusing to look her in the eye. I was a coward; I am the first to admit it. I didn't want to hurt her, and I didn't want to hurt me.
"Carlos."
"Babe."
We sat like that for some time. The silence was heavy. She changed her position finally, settling in next to me, and I didn't refuse her when she tried to get me to accept her into my embrace.
"You look so sad. Why are you hurting?"
I remained silent. The gloom that enveloped me simmered, but I could feel the force of her personality struggling to win out.
Gingerly, she spoke after a long silence. "I love you, did you know that? I think I've loved you from the first minute I laid eyes on you." I could hear in her voice how scared she was to make that statement. She had no idea how scared I was to hear her make it.
"I don't know what love is. I don't think I know how to love. I don't think I've ever loved before."
"Sure you do. You love Julie; your sisters…."
I glanced at her briefly. "Do I?"
"Carlos." Her voice was soft, but there was a sharpness to it that compelled me to respond.
"I loved my mother." I was shocked at the uncertain tone in my voice.
"I'm sure you did. And I know you do love Julie. I've seen it with my own eyes, Carlos."
"I am emotionally attached to her, I guess. We don't have a lot of emotional distance between us."
"That's love Carlos. When you are emotionally attached to something…you love it. Or them. Or her." She was trying so hard, I could feel the pain in her voice as I continued to discount what she said. But it had left me reeling.
"Or me," she whispered fearfully, almost on the verge of tears.
"Babe, there's no emotional distance between us," I told her, my voice rough with emotion.
I pulled her closer to me, letting the warmth of her body seep into my frozen soul. Stephanie made me feel things I had no intention of ever feeling. "You are too good for me; do you know that?" I asked her, pulling her face up to look me in the eyes. I could stare into the depths of the blueness of her eyes for a lifetime.
Apparently I had gotten about as deep as I could get in one sitting with her because she suddenly sat up, and with a huge grin said to me, "Tell me about the most embarrassing thing you have ever done." She was almost bouncing with excitement at the idea I would share something with her. God, she makes me smile. Her eyes glinted with a mixture of horror and laughter as I told her that if I shared that with her, she'd be responsible for sharing her most embarrassing tale as well. She gave up pretty quickly trying to find out and jumped off the bed. I would have to keep that in mind for the future. She must have some good stories!
I followed her into the bathroom and she looked up at me in the mirror as she squeezed her toothpaste onto her toothbrush. "Out." She nodded toward the door. "Babe, I'm good in the shower," I leered at her reflection. She cut a glance at the reflection of me standing naked behind her and grinned. I was staying.