Hi everyone. Firstly, thank you so much for your reviews, they are so appreciated.
Secondly, this chapter introduces some mild smut. I think (I hope?) I have kept it to a 'T' rating, but if you believe I have not and think I need to bump it up to an 'M' rating, please let me know. I am not looking to offend anyone by getting the rating wrong.

Lighting Up

Tonight, I decided to wear the lilac shirt that Carlos had bought me in Newark. It suited me and made my eyes look very blue. I teamed it with a mid-calf skirt, low blue heels, and a soft wrap in navy blue with sparkling silver threads woven through it. I added silver jewellery and light makeup. My hair had decided to cooperate somewhat today and hung down my back in soft curls from a silver clip.

I had eaten at Blue Danube several times. It served eastern European food with some Hungarian classics like stuffed cabbages and goulash. But the chicken paprikash is to die for, and their Savarina rum cake is better than my mom's. But don't tell her that! I was curious to see what exactly Carlos was going to order, since eastern European food isn't known for being loaded with fresh vegetables or grilled chicken breasts. We ended up sharing an appetizer combo with roasted peppers and stuffed mushrooms. I ordered my favourite chicken paprikash, while Carlos ended up finding a veal dish with crab meat and asparagus to sample.

I had to order the cake for dessert. Carlos passed on dessert although I teased him a bit about ordering the lemon sorbet because it had no fat or cream or the rice pudding because it was a Cuban favourite dessert. He took the teasing in good humour and made me blush when he told me he was satisfied just listening to me moan over my dessert.

After dinner, Carlos drove us up to a vineyard in Washington Crossing where there was an event with local wines and live jazz music. It was lovely and relaxing, and we spent about two hours listening to the musicians and slowly sipping wine. By ten o'clock, we were feeling very mellow, and Carlos drove back to my apartment. As we climbed the stairs, my heart started to beat faster. Carlos had pulled a small bag out of his car, and my mind was swirling with the anticipation and excitement of what would happen.

I unlocked my door, and we went into my apartment. Carlos put his bag down in the living room. I wondered if he was feeling as nervous as I am. Probably not. Carlos oozed confidence. Even after falling twice in an elevator, he stepped into another elevator with confidence and fearlessness. But I was feeling nervous. I really wanted Carlos. I was looking forward to being with him. But my experiences with men were somewhat limited, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to please him.

"Would you… would you like a drink?" I asked a little hesitantly.

Carlos shook his head and stepped forward to take me gently into his arms. He kissed me gently, not deepening the kiss. He then dropped his arms to walk over to my stereo system; he flicked through some discs I had and found one of Shakira. He started to play the disc on a low volume and stepped up to take me back into his arms and began to dance with me. I smiled at him and relaxed into his arms. I loved dancing with him, and it was a perfect way to help me relax and get comfortable.

The music was Latin-inspired, and Carlos was leading me in a sensual Rumba. As we continued to dance, Carlos slipped off his shirt and helped me pull the lilac shirt I had worn over my head. I couldn't help myself running my hands over his smooth skin, feeling the ridges of his muscles and the warmth of his body. He responded by sliding his hands up my back and unhooking my bra before moving his hands around to cup my breasts. I gave a small gasp at the sensations that flooded through me as he lightly brushed my nipples. He leaned down to kiss and suckle at the junction of my neck and shoulder and I shuddered in pleasure.

Somehow, I found Carlos had stripped my skirt as well and we stopped dancing as Carlos helped me to strip off my panties and heels, and he removed his shoes and socks and slid off his trousers. We stood before each other naked. Carlos' eyes were blazing hot as he raked his gaze over me and his hands followed his eyes, stroking and smoothing my skin as it flushed in response. I could not help a small gulp of nervousness as I saw him fully erect; he looked bigger than anyone else I had ever seen. But I also felt a rush of dampness in anticipation. Carlos picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist and I shuddered again in please as my centre rubbed against his abdomen. He moved us into my bedroom and sat me gently onto the bed. I was a little surprised when he left the bedroom again, but he soon came back in carrying his bag. I watched as he took a box of condoms out of the bag and put it on the bedside table. I smiled up at him.

He stalked up to me like a panther and I shivered again in anticipation. He gently pressed me down into the bed as his mouth began to move over my skin; everywhere over my skin, kissing, suckling, gently biting. My first orgasm hit me as his mouth touched my centre and I cried out in pleasure. But he didn't stop and led me to another peak with his mouth and his hands. Finally, as I lay quaking and breathing hard, he came up the bed again to kiss my mouth. My hands took the opportunity to run again over his body and down to cup and stroke his arousal. He reached over to take a condom out of the box, and I took it from him to open it and stroke it over his shaft. He grabbed my hands and intertwined our fingers as he kissed me passionately and entered me in a firm, deep stroke. We moved together in the dance until I exploded again, and he finally let go with his own cry of pleasure.

He moved to lie on his back, still joined intimately with me, and I felt him hardening again inside me. I raised my head slightly to meet his eyes and lifted my eyebrows with a smirk.

"Babe," was his only response as he began to kiss me again.

I awoke the next morning feeling a bit sore but very satisfied. We had made a serious dent in the box of condoms last night, and I was in awe of Carlos' stamina and his dedication to my pleasure. Speaking of the sex god, I wondered where he was. My questing hand found the sheets beside me still slightly warm, but sadly empty. Slowly, I raised myself up to sit against the pillow and looked about. I could see the bathroom door was open, so I didn't think he was there. I listened carefully a few minutes and could hear faint kitchen sounds. Gradually, the alluring scent of coffee drifted to me as well and my mouth began to water slightly. Suddenly, Carlos appeared in the bedroom doorway, carrying two mugs, and wearing only a smile. And my watering mouth was no longer just because of the coffee aroma!

He placed the mugs on the bedside table and leaned over to kiss me. Evidently, he didn't care about morning breath because he deepened the kiss until I felt breathless. He drew back slightly to murmur, "Good morning, babe. You look delicious this morning."

I grinned at him, "Good morning, Carlos. You smell delicious this morning." I quipped. He grinned back and picked up one of the coffee mugs, beautifully doctored with cream and sugar, and handed it to me. He climbed back in bed beside me and picked up his own, undoctored mug to sip his coffee.

"I was going to make us breakfast, babe," he said, "but your cupboards are bare."

I blushed a little at that. "I'm not a very good cook," I mumbled. "I tend to rely on cereal and pop tarts for breakfast. And I haven't been grocery shopping lately, so I've kinda run out of everything," I explained.

He reached his free arm around me to hug my shoulders and kiss my temple, "It's pretty late anyway. It's after nine. We can go out and find some brunch if you like."

I nodded, "Sounds great," I agreed. Although, if I am honest, nine am doesn't actually sound all that late to me. Especially after all the exercise I got last night.

Carlos spoke again, "How are you feeling this morning, babe?"

My cheeks pinked slightly as I replied softly, "A little bit sore. But very happy." I looked up at him to see him looking back at me with a beautiful, soft smile on his face.

He leaned in to kiss me softly and said, "I've told you not to call me beautiful, babe" He smirked. I groaned at my lack of brain-to-mouth filter re-emerging.

We finished our coffee and decided to take a shower together. We washed each other and brought each other to another peak with our hands and the shower gel that Carlos brought with him. I saw it was the Bulgari bath gel he had used at his own apartment. I wondered why he had brought it with him. Either he could read my face, or my filter was still missing, because he murmured to me, "I like it when you smell like me, babe."

We emerged to get dressed. I wore my Newark jeans that fit me so well, with a back and purple t-shirt and a pair of sneakers. We had planned to do a bit of running around and buying furniture today, so I didn't want to wear anything too restrictive. Carlos was dressed in his signature black cargo pants and black t-shirt, that I was coming to realise was his go-to uniform. I had gone back to the library to use their computers to print out the report for Carlos and the draft business plan. I picked up all my documents and loaded them into my large black bag, along with my other essentials from my pocketbook.

I directed Carlos to drive to a nearby café that I knew served a good variety of breakfast food. It was run by a group of friendly ladies, and the food was good quality, home-cooking style staples. I was starving after the night's activities, and I ordered banana-pecan waffles with a Frangelica sauce. It was completely scrumptious, and I devoured it with gusto, and washed it down with excellent coffee. Carlos ordered a vegetable frittata and water. Sigh. The man was a weirdo about food, but since he was also a sex god, I guess I would forgive him!

"Babe," I looked up as Carlos spoke. He slid a standard envelop across the table to me. "I wanted to wait until now to give you the check for your research work and the report. It felt… wrong… to give it to you at your apartment." I understood what he meant. After the night we spent together, it might have felt too much like payment for the wrong type of services.

I smiled at him in understanding and picked up the envelope. "Thanks, Carlos." I opened the envelope to glance at the check and gasped. "Carlos!" I exclaimed. "This is for $5,000! This is too much! Way too much!"

"No, Steph," he looked at me seriously. "It's not too much. You earned that. I asked Marco to look into what a consultant would charge for similar work, and he said one to two thousand dollars a week. You worked for more than two weeks on this, and you did an exceptional job. That check is just fair payment for what you achieved."

Tears pricked my eyes as I looked at the check. I heard what he was saying, but it just overwhelmed me to think that I was being paid so much for two-weeks work. This would pay my rent and my car payments for months and still give me living money. This money meant I could pay my bills. I took a shaky breath and said, "Th…thank you, Carlos. It still feels like too much to me, but I appreciate your confidence in me. I'm gonna work my ass off for you and for Rangeman."

"Babe. I like your ass, don't work it off," he smirked. I rolled my eyes.

After we left, Carlos asked me to direct him to the local electronics store. "I thought you were bringing equipment from Newark, Carlos?"

"I changed my mind, Babe. I'm going to leave that there until the lease runs out. It won't go to waste when I set up the full office here. I decided to just buy new." I nodded and directed Carlos to a store where he selected two office phones, a fancy answering machine, a fax machine, two HP computers with the new Windows 95 operating system and Microsoft Word installed, an ink-jet printer, and a modem to connect to the internet. The total was formidable, but Carlos didn't blink, and the storeman helped Carlos to load everything into his Ford Ranger.

We then drove to a furniture store and Carlos purchased two ergonomic office chairs and ordered a set of two comfortable armchairs and a coffee table to be delivered to the office address. We drove back to the office, and I helped to carry what I could up to the second-floor office. When we had the equipment unloaded, we began to unbox and set everything up. Carlos seemed to know more what he was doing with the electronics, but I felt confident enough to set up the phones, answering machine, and fax machine and connect them up, as I had used similar equipment at EE Martin. Once I had the phones installed, I rang the phone company to make sure the connection worked and was being charged to Carlos' account. I also made sure we could use the modem. Carlos decided to use the front-office phone as the main number for the calls and answering machine. We would plug the modem into the line in his office when we needed to dial up for the internet.

I was not very experienced with searching or browsing on the internet. It had not been very essential for my previous job, and I had been unfamiliar with much of the information searching available. I had done a short training course a couple of months ago, hoping the new skills would help me land a job. It had cost me two hundred dollars for a day-long workshop, so I understood the very basics, but so far, the investment had not paid off. At the course, I had been able to practice a couple of times to browse on Yahoo! and search on something called AltaVista. I had even sent a couple of emails. But that was pretty much the extent of my experience. I hoped I could learn quickly. Perhaps I could find a longer, more detailed course to learn more now I would have the opportunity to use it for real.

Once we had everything unpacked and set up, Carlos broke down the cardboard boxes and we carted all the packaging down to the street and the trash cans. We stopped in at the deli on the ground floor of the building to buy sandwiches and drinks and carried them back up to the office to eat our lunch. After we ate, I began to explore on the computer, while Carlos went into his office to make some calls. I was surprised when a Latino man knocked on the outer office door, that was ajar. From what I could see, he looked youngish, maybe mid-twenties, and very tough and wiry, although not heavily muscled. The most intimidating part of him though, was the teardrop tattoo on his cheek.

"Can… can I help you?" I stuttered out nervously. He smiled, showing even white teeth and a kind smile, but said nothing. Carlos' office door opened then, and he stepped out and came around my desk to greet the man in Spanish, with a complicated handshake. I relaxed slightly, seeing that Carlos obviously knew him and trusted him.

Carlos turned to me, "Babe, Steph, this is Hector Alvarez. He doesn't speak a lot of English, but his technical skills are unsurpassed. I know Hector from Newark, but he lives in Trenton now. Hector is going to check our equipment and set us up for the online access."

I stood and timidly held out my hand to shake Hector's, but he took my hand without hesitation, and I smiled at him. He murmured something that sounded like "Hola hermosa." I saw Carlos shoot him an amused look and say only, "¡Mía!" in reply. Carlos' tone was light, so he did not sound upset and Hector's smile to Carlos was wide. He did not say anything else, just followed Carlos into his office to get started on the equipment setup. I shook my head and went back to exploring the computer and testing the printer and fax machine.

Hope you are all well. Sorry progress is so slow, but I'm still writing - that counts! Spanish translations below (from Google, so forgive if incorrect!)

Hola hermosa - hello beautiful lady
Mia - mine