Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Z oe trembled as he laid her out on their bed. The other two times they had sex, it had been fun and lively. Zoe could not recall a time with any man where she’d laughed during sex. It gave those times with Carlos an elated feeling that surpassed passion. The fact that he’d made himself vulnerable to her had relaxed her in a way she hadn’t thought possible after Davis’s treatment of her. She’d never enjoy the company of a sexual partner more than she did Carlos.

As she watched him strip off his pajama pants, there was an intensity between them that heated the air. Zoe felt her nipples pebble against her dress, moisture pooled between her legs, and her tongue dampened her lips in anticipation of his touch.

Staring down at her, Carlos took his thick erection in his hand and started to leisurely stroke himself. “Are you wet enough for me? I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back once I get my mouth on you.”

Zoe shuddered. She hiked up her butt enough to pull the long dress up under her hips, revealing the fact that all she’d been wearing was the dress. No bra, no panties.

His eyes darkened. “Fuck. Naughty girl, you were standing in my kitchen with no panties on? If I’d known I’d have bent you over the counter instead of carrying you to our bed.”

Heat seared her at the idea of him taking her in the kitchen. It did not occur to her until later in the day that it shouldn’t have turned her on so much, considering the last time Davis had forced himself on her had been in their kitchen. But right then, that thought never even crossed her mind. All she saw was Carlos bending her over the kitchen counter, hiking up her dress, and entering her from behind.

He must have picked up on her increased mood. “You like that idea, don’t you, sunshine?” He continued to stroke his cock. “You want me to take you, use you, in the kitchen. How about the living room? Bend you over the arm of the couch and spank your little ass until it reddens with the print of my hand.”

Zoe’s breath hitched at his words. Her back bowed off of the bed and she felt her clit throb with nothing more than him voicing a fantasy. “Carlos… Please…”

Carlos moved over to the nightstand. He reached inside to pull out a condom packet. Using his teeth, he tore it open, but he didn’t move to take it out of the wrapper. Instead, he held it out towards her. “Put it on me, sunshine.”

Zoe rose up onto her knees. She pulled the dress off over her head, leaving her just as naked as he was. She crawled on her knees on the mattress over to the edge of the bed.

Feeling more wanton and adventurous than she had the first time they’d made love, Zoe pulled the moist latex from the wrapper. Making sure it was facing the right way, she placed it to her mouth instead of the head of his cock. She stared into his eyes as she lowered herself down and used her mouth and tongue to roll the condom down the length of his erection.

Knowing he wasn’t averse to a bit of pain mixed with pleasure, Zoe carefully scraped the edge of her teeth along his hard shaft as she backed her mouth off of him. Carlos let out a low moan. His hand went to her hair and he held her face in place for a couple of extra thrusts before he removed himself from her mouth. Using her hair, he tipped her head upwards to stare up at him.

Crouched as she was on her knees before him on the mattress, she acknowledged the submissiveness of the position. More importantly, though, she realized she wasn’t scared of him. He had a tight hold on her hair, but she did not fear him.

“Where in the world did you learn to do that, sunshine?”

Zoe bit her lip before admitting, “I’ve been doing some research. You let me borrow your tablet yesterday, remember? I probably should have erased the history.”

His grip on her tightened slightly, though not painfully. She knew to the marrow of her bones that if she showed a hint of pain that he would back off. Carlos led her to rise up on her knees by her hair. Zoe’s hard nipples scraped against his hard chest as she rose.

“And what other wicked things were you looking up on my tablet?” His voice was deep, dark, but there was a hitch to it that portrayed his intense arousal. She had a suspicion that he was barely able to keep himself under control.

Suddenly, she knew that she didn’t want Controlled Carlos. She wanted Wild Carlos, Unabashed Carlos, Naughty Carlos.

Zoe leaned in, nipping at his jawline that he hadn’t shaved yet that morning. “I was looking up the best strap-ons with large dicks made for anal pleasure.”

Quick as a flash, Carlos released his hold on her hair. He placed his hands behind her knees and took her legs out from under her. Zoe landed, bouncing, on her back on the mattress. Her legs still in his hands, he widened them to step between as he pulled her butt to the edge of the bed.

“You are without a doubt the most erotic woman I have ever had the pleasure of making love to.” He took his sheathed cock in hand, rubbing the head through her wet folds. Zoe moaned as he stroked over her engorged clit. “If I have my way, Zoe, you’ll be the last woman I’ll ever make love to.”

Declaration stated, he plunged into her wet core. Zoe cried out as he stretched her before slapping a hand over her mouth, conscious of the fact that his mother and her son were in rooms nearby.

Carlos draped her legs over his shoulders, nearly bending her in two, as he fell forward onto the mattress. His hands by her waist, he thrusted his cock inside her again and again. Faster and more powerful than their previous times, this was not lovemaking as he’d called it, but down and dirty fucking.

Zoe felt her orgasm start as her inner muscles clenched around him. He hadn’t even touched her clit and she was already coming.

Carlos swiped her hand away from her mouth, collapsing on top of her so he could claim her lips as surely as he claimed her body. He swallowed her screams. She felt him grow inside her and knew he was following her right over the edge.

Perhaps both of them were falling harder than they were prepared to admit.

Not having a bathroom readily available and not willing to journey naked across the hall where a potential audience could catch him, Carlos pulled the used condom off his softening cock and tied it off. He balled it into a clump of tissues before tossing it into the trash. Then he picked up his pajama bottoms to clean Zoe between her legs. He had wet wipes in his drawer, but for some reason liked the idea of cleaning her with his clothes.

The image of his cum, leaking from her core overtook his sight for a moment. The idea of not just taking her bare but breeding her… Of her swollen and luscious with his baby…

Carlos had to shake the image from his head. That reality, if it was even a possibility at all, was very far off in the future. Zoe had had a hard pregnancy with Kyle. Or, rather, she’d had a hard experience getting pregnant. Her husband’s abuse had started due to her inability to conceive right away. While that could have been just as much the man’s fault as it was hers, Carlos had no doubt her husband had placed the blame solely on her shoulders.

He would never do that. Regardless of how much he wanted to see her pregnant with his baby, it was no excuse to beat her.

Carlos easily maneuvered a lax Zoe up to the head of the bed. He scooted in behind her, spooning her smaller form, and pulled the covers over them. As great as he felt post-orgasm, it was time they talked. They couldn’t use sex to avoid their issues.

No matter how tempting an idea it was.

He rubbed his fingers gently up and down her left arm and shoulder. She shivered, but he didn’t think it was from the cold.

“Why didn’t you come to bed last night?” He kept his voice low, making sure there was no way she could place anger in his tone.

He wasn’t angry. Not really. Disappointed and worried more than angry. He was angrier at himself for not having seen what was bothering her so he could fix it.

“In all honesty, it wasn’t my intention to spend the night away from you.” Carlos moved her curls over so he could see her profile more clearly as she answered. “I did hesitate to leave Kyle. I was…ashamed of how I acted at the pizzeria, but it also brought up some concerns. I was thinking, lost track of time, and eventually fell asleep with him. I am sorry, Carlos. I wasn’t trying to stay away.”

“Are you glad you did?”

Her hesitation was answer enough. Still, she said, “In a way and probably not for the reason you think.”

“And what reason do I think?” he asked, not liking the assumption of his thoughts.

“That I wanted to stay away from you. That I was afraid of you or didn’t want to face you.”

All right, he had to give her that one. He had been thinking those were her reasons. “And what was the real reason then?”

“It gave me perspective, I think. When I was drifting off last night, I was thinking we were moving too fast. I was actually second-guessing moving in here with you.” Carlos stiffened at her words. She reached behind herself and gripped his bare hip with her small hand. “I don’t,” Zoe clarified. “It was only an errant thought. I don’t regret it, Carlos, I promise.”

That was great to hear, but still… “What made you question it in the first please?”

“Time. Or, rather, the lack of time.” Zoe turned around to face him. Not liking the space now between their naked bodies, Carlos hooked one leg over her hip and rested his arm around her back. Her cheeks pinkened beautifully as his dick started to wake back up, even though only minutes had passed since they’d made love.

Zoe cleared her throat. He loved how one minute she could be a sexy vixen rolling a condom down his cock with her mouth and the next she acted like a shy, blushing bride. He found the contradiction enticing and, if he was being honest, encouraging.

“Can you bear with me for a second? No interruptions. I want to make sure I explain this correctly.”

He nodded.

The fact that she wasn’t looking away from him was reassuring that, though she might struggle to find the right words, he was going to want to hear what she had to say. “For six years, I thought I was in love with a man because he had family money, standing in the community, and a respectable job. I know that I did love him, or I wouldn’t have married him. Take away the mental and physical abuse, I can’t see that I was so blind as to marry a man I did not love.

“But here’s the thing I’m struggling with. It pales in comparison.” She lifted her hand to cup his scruffy face. “Carlos, I’ve known you less than a week and you mean more to me than he ever did. It’s like…you quiet the voices and he created them.” She shook her head, scoffing at herself. “That makes me sound insane.” Carlos chuckled softly but did not speak as she’d requested. “I feel more safe, more loved in your arms than I ever did in his. I know it’s not fair to compare the two of you, because he’s nowhere close to your league, but there will always be that comparison. It’s there in my head.”

Zoe leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his lips. “But there’s no comparison in my heart, Carlos. I spent two nights in your arms and one out of your arms…and there’s no comparison. I will always choose you. I will always pick you. I don’t care that it’s too fast, I don’t care that my brain hasn’t caught up to where my heart is. I need you in my life.

“We’ll figure out my identity, what sort of relationship you want to have with Kyle, and anything else that comes along. So long as we do it together, preferably with your arms around me.”

She paused long enough that Carlos asked, “Am I allowed to speak now?”

Zoe let out a light giggle. “Yeah.”

Carlos tipped his head down and claimed her lips. “You already know how I feel about you. I started falling for you when we bumped into each other in February. I have never felt such a pull towards another person. I saw you and your Bambi eyes and all I wanted was to take you into my arms, guard you and protect you. It kills me, not that you were married but that he treated you so despicably that you could ever compare me to him. I get it,” he added when she made to defend her words. “Trust me, I get it. And you know what? I don’t mind the comparison. Because I know it’s one way that I can kick his ass since you already shot him dead before I could.”

Zoe blinked at him in shock and then burst out laughing. “Carlos!”

He smiled before taking her lips again. “Sunshine, never be afraid to tell me your fears or discomforts. Believe it or not, I’ll have some along the way too. We need to be open and honest with each other. That’s the only way this will work. And I swear ,” he added more sternly, “that I will always quiet the voices in your head.”

Zoe laughed again. “Thank you. I hope I do the same for you.”

Carlos rolled her onto her back. “You do, sunshine. You do that and so much more.” He kissed her again, knowing they weren’t leaving this bed until he made love to her at least one more time.

Zoe and Carlos walked down the hallway with their arms wrapped around each other, giggling like high schoolers in love. They rounded the corner into the kitchen—and froze.

Kyle sat at the kitchen table in his pajamas, drinking a cup of milk. He had a plate of half-eaten eggs and bacon in front of him.

Louisa stood at the stovetop, cooking up more food. “Good morning, lovebirds,” she said with a knowing look. “Did you forget you had a child?”