Through you, p.25
Through You, page 25
I’m left in my boxers after she takes off my shoes and pants.
She picks up my clothes and places them on the chair next to my bed. She bends on purpose, allowing me to see the skimpy black underwear she’s wearing under her short skirt. I feel like I’m going to burst.
“Claudia . . .” I’m not sure if she can hear the desperation in my voice, but I try nevertheless. She straightens and is once again standing in front of me.
“What would you like, sir?”
“You.”
“Oh, would sir like to touch me?” She takes my hand and guides it to her breasts, letting me brush against them for a brief moment, which feels heavenly until she removes it. I protest with a grunt. She brings my hand down between her legs, and I can feel through her stockings that she’s wet. A sigh escapes my lips.
“Would sir like to fuck me?”
Before I can say anything, she moves my hand away and pushes on my chest, forcing me to lie back. She brings her legs on either side of my hips and straddles me. I’m dying to touch her, to ravage her from head to toe. But this time she’s in control, and I restrain myself. However, I don’t know much longer I can hold back. She leans forward and fixes her eyes on mine. Then she tilts her head, gets closer to my mouth, and moves in for a kiss.
I groan when I kiss her back desperately and urgently. I’m starving for her and brimming with desire. Our breathing becomes faster. We kiss with passion and urgency. It’s the kind of kiss that can only happen in the privacy of my room, and not in public.
She starts to gyrate on me, and I stifle a groan in response to the sensation of her inner thigh and crotch rubbing on me. I raise my hands in an attempt to touch her but she grabs them and brings them down, taking her mouth off mine.
“No, sir.”
“I’m on the verge.”
She sits up straight on top of me, then runs her hands over my chest and down to my abdomen.
“You are very sexy, Artemis Hidalgo.”
“Thank you. You’re beyond sexy, and I’m two seconds away from losing my self-restraint and fucking you senseless.”
“It’s too bad I’m in charge. Right, sir?” She begins to undo the top buttons of her uniform and I stop breathing. It feels hot in here.
With each button she releases, she reveals more of her breasts.
She stops at her waist and opens the shirt of her uniform, presenting beautiful breasts contained in a black bra that brings out the color of her skin.
She is beautiful, and she knows it. The confidence she exudes as she puts her body on display is thrilling. There is no hesitation, no shame, just power and self-confidence in her gestures and expressions. She takes my hands and puts them on her breasts, allowing me to give them a light squeeze that fuels my desire even more. Though I’m having a hard time tolerating this slow torture, I trust our coupling will be even more explosive once it finally happens. She keeps moving on top of me while I caress her breasts. She bites her lower lip and moans softly. I can feel the heat from her crotch. I can only imagine how wet she must be and how good it will feel when I finally penetrate her.
“You are so hard, sir.” Her voice is fueled by desire, and lights my whole body on fire.
My member becomes harder when she pulls down the straps of her bra and bares her breasts to me. My hands make direct contact, and I groan in response to the sensation. My thumbs start working on her pert nipples, making her throw her head back and eliciting a much louder moan. Her swiveling movements on my lap are becoming more rapid and unruly.
“Claudia, I don’t think I can take it anymore, I—”
She puts her finger to my lips. “Silence.”
She removes my hands from her breasts and stands up. She pulls her undergarments down and steps out of them. She keeps her skirt on and grabs the elastic band of my boxers. She takes them off and exposes me to her.
She straddles me one more time. And the skin-to-warm-skin contact prompts me to grab hold of her hips to anchor me, praying I can control myself.
“Ah, Claudia.”
She uses her wetness to lubricate her grinding movements, forward and backward. My grip on her hips tightens. I need to be inside her now. Not having control is driving me crazy.
“I want you inside me, sir,” she whispers and slides slightly off me. I hold my breath as I watch her guide my member toward her entrance. “Ah.” She moans, and I close my eyes as she completely encases me. She feels warm, soft, and wet inside; the sensation leaves me speechless.
This feels like fucking paradise.
Claudia slowly gyrates, tantalizing me and intensifying the sensation and my arousal. Her moans match the rhythm of her movements. The torture she’s put me through is close to taking its toll and I may just come from all of this. But I fight hard to suppress the urge to lose myself.
“God, this is unbelievable,” I murmur. She leans forward, and her breasts are dangerously close to my face. I don’t hesitate and proceed to ravage them. I lick them, kiss them, and suck on them.
The way she’s shuddering is a clear sign that she’s enjoying it.
“Yes. Artemis. God.” She’s lost control and her movements have picked up the pace. The sound created by the friction of our intimate parts echoes throughout the room, and it intermingles with loud moans of pleasure. “I’m going . . . to . . . Oh, god.”
I can tell she’s close to reaching orgasm and I kiss her. I move my hands down to her ass and squeeze it. I jerk my hips upward, burying myself deeper inside her. Claudia gasps into my mouth.
She shudders and trembles. She’s lost in the throes of her impending orgasm and I feel her pulsations on my member. She’s getting wetter, and I know I won’t be able to hold back much longer.
Her pace becomes fierce, and the sound of our bodies coming together gets even louder and more primal.
“Ohh, Claudia. I’m going to come if you keep moving like that,” I admit, doubting my ability to resist the urge.
“Do it. I want to feel it.” The warmth coming from her rapid breaths is driving me crazy. “Artemis, I want to feel you come inside me.”
And that’s all I need to hear to reach my climax. I tighten my grip on her ass, moan, and let myself go. Claudia drops on top of me and our breathing is ragged. I can feel her heart erratically beating, much like mine. She peels herself off me, and falls to my side. We lie on our backs, stare at the ceiling, and try to recover the ability to speak following the most incredible sexual encounter. My hand finds hers and gives it a light squeeze. I try to find a compliment that will do justice to how amazing this was, but my mind fails me.
“I may just take control more often.” She breaks the silence, and I turn to look at her.
“As many times as you want.”
She smiles at me. The dim yellow light coming from the candles illuminates her bare skin, and I’m moved by the need to repeat the words again.
I love you.
But I hold back. I don’t want to put her on the spot. The last thing I want is to make her feel uncomfortable. Seeing her lying here naked next to me, with a bright smile that lights up her face, makes me realize how much I love everything about her. What began as affection between children who protected and looked after each other has evolved into a growing attraction that has culminated in the feelings I have for her today. Feelings so overwhelming they terrify me.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks, as her hand cups my cheek.
How much you mean to me. That I love you, and I’d like to shout it from the mountaintops. And that the intensity of what I’m feeling frightens me.
“What do you think?” I conceal my thoughts with a provocative smile.
She laughs, and I stare at her like a fool in love.
“I guess sir enjoyed his surprise.” She winks at me.
“Call me sir again, and I’ll screw you again.”
“Oh, I’m scared!” she teases me, and I climb on top of her.
Our warm, naked bodies fit each other to perfection.
“You should be afraid of me,” I tell her before kissing her softly, enjoying the taste of her lips and slowly savoring the way they feel. Claudia takes my lower lip between her teeth and smiles.
“I’m terrified.”
I keep kissing her. The rubbing of our wet lips intensifies little by little. Her breathing accelerates. I rest one hand on the mattress while I caress her breasts with the other.
“Artemis.” She moans against my lips, and I know I’ve got her where I want her.
“Spread your legs for sir,” I order, teasing her.
She obeys, and gives herself to me all over again with unbridled passion. And though she still hasn’t said she loves me, I feel love in every kiss, in each caress, in every glance—and that’s more than enough.
Thirty-three
I did something stupid.
CLAUDIA
I’ve never been a sound sleeper.
I blame it on all those restless nights from my childhood, back when I was always on alert in case something might happen.
And now the smallest sound wakes me up, like the beep from a notification on my phone.
I ignore the first message because I’m wrapped in Artemis’s arms, who sleeps soundly behind me. I don’t want to move. But I open my eyes to look at my phone on the nightstand when it beeps for a second time, then a third, and a fourth. The alarm clock next to it indicates it’s 3:45 a.m.
Who is texting me at this hour?
I carefully extend my hand and grab my phone. I look at the screen, which is lit up with notifications. It’s Daniel. I scowl as I read his messages.
3:40
Daniel: Claudia, I miss you.
3:41
Daniel: I’m drunk and I can’t stop thinking about you.
Daniel: I did something stupid.
3:42
Daniel: I need to see you, please.
Daniel: Just once.
And it’s the last message that brings my breathing to a complete stop.
3:44
Daniel: I’m in front of your house.
Daniel: I’m not leaving until I see you.
Shit!
Artemis squirms behind me. I lower my phone and bury it under a pillow so that the light coming from the screen doesn’t wake him up.
Okay, Claudia. You need to think of the best way to handle this situation. Or it’s going to spiral out of control in too many directions.
I doubt there’s a right way. I entertain the option of not going out to meet him and shutting off my phone, hoping he’ll get tired of waiting. But I know Daniel, and when he’s drunk he tends to fall asleep wherever he happens to be. Besides, I’m not so heartless as to abandon him to Fortune’s mercy when I don’t even know how he got here. What if he drove? There’s no way I can let him leave on his own. Argh! I had a feeling that sleeping with him one last time was a terrible idea. I knew he had feelings for me, and I shouldn’t have taken advantage of him.
I carefully untangle Artemis’s arms from my waist and get out of bed. I steal a brief glance at him lying naked. The moon-light streaming through the window illuminates the muscles of his back. His hand is outstretched, reaching to my side as if he’s searching for me in his sleep.
Artemis Hidalgo.
My iceberg.
I don’t want anything to ruin this, especially not a misunderstanding. I know that if I wake him up to help me with Daniel, he won’t understand and will become jealous, and god knows what he’ll do. Artemis can be very impulsive. He punched his own brother when he found out what happened between us. I can’t begin to imagine what he would to Daniel, even though what we had is in the past. I whisper a curse when I realize that the maid’s uniform is the only thing I have to wear. I quickly tie my hair up in a ponytail, put on my uniform, and quietly exit the room.
I carefully walk down the stairs and hurry to the front door under the cover of darkness. I deactivate the alarm next to the door before I open it and step outside. The night breeze makes me shiver but I don’t let it bother me. And sure enough, Daniel is sitting on the steps of the small staircase at the entrance. He rests his head against a post, and his car is badly parked out front. The door is open. Dear god. How did he manage to get here in one piece?
“Daniel,” I say firmly.
He lifts his head and turns to look at me. I can tell his eyes are red; so are his nose and cheeks. He’s very drunk and has been crying, which makes me feel terrible. It was never my intention to hurt someone like this.
“Hi, baby,” he says with a sad smile.
“What are you doing here? It’s almost four in the morning, Daniel.” I walk down the stairs to face him. He remains seated; I doubt he’s able to stand.
“I needed to see you,” he says softly. “I miss you. Why can’t I get you out of my head?”
“Daniel . . .”
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, Claudia. No one. Please give me a chance.”
“Daniel, I was very clear with you right from the start. I—”
“Yes, yes, yes. It was just fucking—no strings attached. I know.
But other girls who’ve said the same thing to me before, they’ve always wanted more. I thought that you wanted more too.”
I shake my head. “It was just sex, Daniel. To me, it was always just that.”
His eyes are watery, and he licks his lips.
“Fuck me, it’s just my luck that I would fall in love with the one girl who actually honors her end of the no strings attached bargain.” He lets out a sarcastic chuckle.
“You can’t do this. You can’t show up at my house like this. It’s not okay. You need to go.”
He stands up and staggers toward me. “I love you, Claudia,” he says with tears in his eyes.
There’s something about that phrase, and those three words that doesn’t sit well with me.
“No. You’re just obsessed with me because you can’t have me, because I haven’t fallen in love with you like all the other girls you’ve been with. You still don’t know what true love is.”
“And you do?”
I remain silent.
“Are you with someone? Who is it? Is he better than me?”
“Daniell. . .”
“Answer me!” he shouts in my face, and I take a step back.
“Daniel, lower your voice.”
“No, tell me who it is.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“So there is someone.”
I don’t want to tell him anything that may hurt him even more, but my patience is wearing thin. He stretches his hand toward my face, and I take one more step back.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Daniel, I’ll call you a cab. You can’t drive in this state.”
“Are you worried about me?”
I comb through the pockets of my maid’s outfit, searching for my cell phone. And when I can’t find it, alarm bells go off in my head. I’ve left it in the room.
“Daniel, please tell me you didn’t send any more texts after that last one telling me you were in front of my house.”
He scrunches his eyebrows, as if he’s thinking.
“I sent you one more, and called you after, but you didn’t answer.”
Oh god. I hope it didn’t wake Artemis up.
“Daniel, you have to get out of here. Give me your phone, I’ll call you a cab.” He reluctantly gives me his cell and I call a cab that will be here in ten minutes.
I give Daniel his phone back, and quickly look back at the main door of the house, which remains closed. Good. He hasn’t woken up. If he had, he would have been out that door in a hell of a hurry, exploding with rage after seeing those texts. Daniel takes advantage of my distraction to move closer and grab both of my arms. He’s quite strong for someone who’s this drunk. He leans his face forward in an attempt to kiss me, but I turn my head and push him away.
“You haven’t listened to me at all!” I tell him, boiling with anger. “I don’t want anything to do with you. Nothing. Daniel, please go on with your life and leave me alone.”
“Just one kiss good-bye,” he begs me.
I laugh. “No way. You’ve lost your mind.”
The cab arrives and I help him get in.
“I’ll keep the keys to your car. Tomorrow you can come by and get them. This has to be the last time you do something like this, Daniel. Next time, I’ll call the police.”
He nods before closing the door, and I watch the cab pull away and disappear down the road. I make my way back inside the silence and darkness of the house and head upstairs, relieved that that didn’t end up being as bad as I expected.
I open the door to Artemis’s bedroom and the first thing I pick up is the dim light coming from one corner in the room. My heart accelerates when I notice that his bed is empty.
I rest my back against the closed door behind me, and my eyes find Artemis’s eyes. And that’s when I stop breathing. He’s shirtless, has a pair of pajama pants on, and is sitting on a chair next to the window. His hair is messy and the expression on his face is so blank it gives me the chills. I notice he’s holding a tablet in his hands. He turns it around to show me.
There are black-and-white screenshots from the security camera at the front of the house. He’s watched everything. To make things worse, these cameras record without sound. Which means he was only able to watch me talking with Daniel at four o’clock in the morning right after he sent those revealing texts. It’s just a misunderstanding. Just choose your words wisely. My throat tightens when I look into his eyes, while he waits for an explanation. His shoulders and arms are tense, making the outlines of his muscles more pronounced.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asks, tossing the tablet on the bed.
“It’s not what it seems.” I hate this clichéd response overused by liars and honest people alike. “He was drunk and I didn’t want him to drive home in that state.”
