Page 21 of Never Again
Carmen whispered goodbye to Sofia, giving the cat’s head an affectionate rub before throwing the carry-on over her shoulder. They took the stairs down the one flight to the main level. She dragged reluctantly behind Carlos, like someone on their way to the guillotine.
He handed her bags to Franklin, and though the big man didn’t say a word and Carlos couldn’t see his eyes behind the sunglasses, he recognized Franklin’s disapproval in the noncommittal greeting and the set of his jaw. Once Franklin put away the bags, he climbed in the SUV to give them privacy.
Carlos cupped Carmen’s face in his hands. She hadn’t bothered with make-up today. Nude lips and bright eyes sucked him in and twisted the knife of longing that would surely remain stuck in the middle of his chest for a very lengthy period.
“I’m so glad we ran into each other again. This is just the beginning, okay?” he said.
“Don’t disappear on me.” She said the words as a joke, but he didn’t miss the underlying worry in her gaze.
“I love you. You messed up letting me back into your life. I’m not going anywhere.”
That made her smile, exactly what he was going for.
“Love you,” she whispered.
He placed a quick, gentle kiss on her lips, though he wanted to hold her tight and kiss her hard and long. “Bye,mi amor.”
“Bye,mi corazón.” With her hand still in his, Carmen climbed into the back of the vehicle.
Carlos stole another quick kiss and forcibly made himself step back and let her go. He shut the door, and Franklin pulled away from the curb. His stomach pitched low as he watched them leave. He waved and she waved from the back.
He missed her already.
9
Carlos swung his legs over the side of the gray sofa and yawned. Sofia lay snoozing on the windowsill and watched him between slits for eyes.
Miraculously, his afternoon nap, expected to be only an hour or so, had lasted several hours. That was good, because his rest had been spotty at best since Carmen left a week ago. Her face plagued his dreams, and the emptiness inside him wouldn’t go away. This miserable state was nothing new. After he moved from Toronto, thoughts of her used to mess with his sleep, fueled by regret and guilt and the very real knowledge that he’d lost the love of his life.
With the sun long gone, shadows filled the apartment, broken up by the street lights outside the windows. He trudged wearily into the bathroom, washed his face, and took a leak before going to the kitchen. Restless and not knowing what to do with himself, he stood in front of the refrigerator and stared at the contents.
Water. He’d have a drink of water.
He poured some from a pitcher and drained half the glass. Then he dragged over to the corner to his bed and climbed under the sheets.
He hadn’t expected Carmen to be back in his life, but now that she was, he wanted more dinners, more walks to the market, more television watching, and more of her in his bed. More of her breath brushing his arm as she slept and more of her bright smile lighting up the dark corners of his lonely, empty heart.
Carlos grunted and twisted restlessly. He punched the pillow and resettled on his side. “Come on, sleep. Help me out.”
But sleep didn’t come. Instead, more thoughts of Carmen and the distance between them filled his head, yet he couldn’t help but smile as he remembered her in the kitchen, humming and fixing coffee. Her walking around in a pair of shorts and a tank, showing off her toned legs and arms and looking so damn sexy she distracted him from work. Her climbing on top of him in the middle of the night, one hand braced on his chest, the other cupping her own breast as she rode him to ecstasy.
His dick swelled as his loins filled with an uncomfortable heaviness that he’d have to relieve if he wanted to get back to sleep tonight. He thought about Carmen’s soft lips and her soft skin and her soft hair and the alluring scent of roses and groaned.
Carlos rolled over and pulled out a bottle of cheap lotion he kept in the drawer of the table by the bed and squirted a good portion into his palm. He stuck a hand down the front of his pants and covered his semi-erect penis, then closed his eyes and tightened his fingers around his hardening flesh.
His imagination took control then, projecting an image of Carmen’s head cocked back, her throat arched in a blatant invitation to his tongue. As he envisioned licking her skin, he squeezed and massaged his stiff erection to get closer to relief.
Impatiently, Carlos shoved the waistband of his boxers lower around his hips to get himself better in hand, but he didn’t rush. No need to rush. He wasn’t a teen hiding in the bathroom, engaging in an act that had to be completed quickly and furtively before anyone burst in and caught him.
Closing his eyes, he moved his hand slowly, savoring the moment. His quick shallow breaths filled the air. Using his thumb, he rubbed the sensitive tip and imagined Carmen’s hand—
The phone vibrated on the nightstand, and his eyes popped open as he was yanked from his fantasy.
Goddammit. He slammed his hand on the device and glared at the screen.
It was Carmen. The anger disappeared.
He accepted her request to FaceTime. “Hey.”
