Chapter 8: Vignette

As Chloé mulled over how much she wanted him, that would have to wait. She switched gears and asked him more about the case with the girl. It was concerning that it was happening so close to home.

"Oh! Right, come and watch with me."

They both sat down on her couch and turned on the TV. The two leaned forward for a better view. The reporters said the same thing that Kemal had told her.

"It's weird that he'd brazenly do it in the open with such a risk of getting caught," Chloé repeated.

"Yes, I know." Kemal nodded at her. He took her hand and held it. They linked fingers.

"I'm scared," Chloé admitted. "Maybe irrationally so."

"Oh, that's why I'm here. You don't need to be, anymore."

Chloé felt tears come to her eyes. She could tell he meant what he was saying. It was a relief to be around someone so confident, though she didn't understand where his bravado came from. Maybe he had some badass friends that could back him up in a fight.

He wasn't thick with muscles nor was he overly assertive, yet she felt safe with him. There was something about him that made him so confident. She just needed to find out what that was.

When it was close to 11, she turned to him hoping to have a conversation. There were so many questions she had.

"So, Kemal," she began. "Have you ever been married before?" It had been on her mind long enough and she needed to know.

He turned to face her, to afford her a respectful answer.

"Yes," he said. "We were very young."

Chloé paused before asking,"Did you like it?"

"Yes," he said softly. "But something happened to her, and I wasn't the same after."

"Does that something have anything to do with you no longer having ... faith?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I didn't want to be a part of that sect anymore." They both were quiet in thought. He glanced at her and continued, "For a while, I thought perhaps I had made the wrong choice about leaving that kind of life."

"What kind?"

"One of faith."

"How long?"

"Six years."

Chloé felt her heart sink. Did this mean he had been with several women before her during that six-year interval? It hurt to think about, though it was quite natural. Still, she felt herself becoming anxious. As impossible as it was, she wanted him to be all hers.

"Oh," she finally said. "Does that mean you've been able to sample the population? To figure out more of what you'd like?"

Kemal's mouth dropped open. Then, he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his fingers clasped, and turned to look at her seriously.

"You think I'm like that? Is that how you see me?"

Chloé shrugged and stood up, walking to the small kitchen. She poured a glass of water and began to drink it. She needed to calm herself down and avoid his penetrating stare.

'Get over yourself, Chloé. You can handle him having a past.'

It was only moments later that she heard him stand and walk in behind her. Still facing the sink, he leaned into her ear and said, "To answer your question, no. I have not had my 'sample'. Despite me changing six years ago, I have not been with anyone new in that time."

"Really?" Chloé turned around.

"Yes," he said seriously.

"But with me ... it seemed like it was ... I don't know, maybe, it was easy to get your attention. Not that I'm complaining."

"Well, of course, it was."

"Of course, what?"

"It was easy to notice you because of you. The way you are, Chloé Masters. You are my white light in this very dark world." He stepped closer and she leaned her back against the counter with the sink behind her.

"Yeah?" she could barely express. It was exactly as she felt when he stood with her in the martini bar. There was a brightness within her that maybe only he could bring out. He held her cheek.

"Do you not feel it too?" he whispered. She peered up at him, nervous and vulnerable.

"I felt it from the moment I saw you," she whispered.

"Then, we're the same."

He bent to her and began to kiss her. She leaned back as the counter pressed into her spine. She enjoyed the weight he placed upon her body, the way his hands clutched her jaw, and how he behaved as though without her kiss he would die. She reached up to his face and her fingers climbed to his hair.

It was much softer and thicker than she thought it would be. He could feel her desire, bending to provide her access. She kissed him deeper and held him closer. Then, she parted from him.

He smiled at her warmly and took her hand, returning to the living room. Once they were back on the couch, they linked hands again but after only a few minutes, they couldn't resist one another. They gracefully collided, kissing one another aggressively with intensity.

Chloé rose, teasing Kemal into joining her, and led him to her bedroom.

While still kissing, Chloé helped unbutton his shirt and then opened it. They separated, just long enough to pull her shirt off. After she could see his bare chest and she was in only her bra, they both sat on the edge of the bed together. She hoped they wouldn't be interrupted again.

Chloé ran her hand up his leg and he reached for her right breast. They were big but his hands had no problem holding most of the voluptuous curve. She unsnapped her bra for him and pulled his hand to her bare chest. He reached to her and kissed her again gently, cupping her breast in his hand.

They paused, moving away from their kisses to voicelessly check in with one another. He was gasping nearly inaudibly as she slowly reached further down to his zipper. Her fingernails scraped along the outside metal teeth, tempting him. She could feel him responding to her, the warmth and fullness pressing against her fingertips, then open palm.

She squeezed gently. He pulled her closer to him and then she unbuttoned the top of his jeans. The pressure against his tight stomach was now lessened.

Having never been with someone who favored chastity over lust, Chloé treaded carefully. When she fanned her fingers over the hair on his stomach ever so slightly into his unbuttoned pants, she did so with caution. With each inch she delved, she caressed him gently and gazed into his eyes. Finally, he nodded for her to continue.

Her hand traveled deeper into his pants and when she found him, she touched him delicately. When she felt his erection, his size was as she had suspected in his office that first day. In fact, she worried that he may be too big for her, but she couldn't stop.

He mimicked her, unbuttoning her shorts. She wriggled out of them without breaking their kiss. Once the shorts were gone, his attention changed. He paused and then backed away from her.

She slowly laid down in front of him.

He pulled the rest of his clothes off and she couldn't help but stare at all of him. His body was trim and tight and the hair on him accentuated his features. When he got to her underwear, he slowly brought them all the way down.

For a moment he paused as he had in the office, sitting on his feet and staring at her. She pursed her lips, slightly nervous that he'd find flaws he hadn't seen before. When he was done eyeing every inch, he climbed over her. As he lowered himself, Chloé put her arms around him and rubbed up under the thick hair at his neck.

While kissing her again, he slowly entered her. His movement was gentle, and he made sure that it didn't happen too fast. Neither wanted it to end before it had begun. That would be tragic.

Once he was fully inside her, he gasped in pleasure as she arched upward in response. Though it was tight, each movement relaxed her further, and it began to feel pleasurable. After only a few more moments, without warning, she came for him, and in doing so, was flooded with shyness.

She knew he turned her on, but this was her basest truth. Her body revealed everything she needed to know about her feelings, mind, and attraction to him. This was what being out of control and fully exposed to him was like for her. It was unique.

Chloé held his neck as he pressed his lips to her cheek, mouth, then chest. His motion remained slower, which was what she wanted and needed. At least, for now.

When he pressed his cheek against hers, she could feel their sweat collecting along their hairlines, mixing. The sounds he was making were sweet, soft cries, easier to hear now that her ear was next to his mouth. She closed her eyes and succumbed to her feelings, still holding him but allowing her body to be taken over by his spell.

Parts of him spread into her soul as though he were a sneaky, disguised, virus that she'd never be cured of. The way he slipped more deeply into her heart infected her forever. She was changed and rewired from this moment onward because of him. It was all because of him.

The longer he stayed close to her, with his hot skin upon hers, the more history he rewrote for her. Every memory was changing as she held onto him because now, the way she thought about herself was going to be different. Now, when she looked back at her past–the fears, insecurities, lonely nights–it would all be seen as just time waiting for him, here. The sadness, anger, and feelings of ugliness were simply tests to help her arrive at this very moment.

And everything bad was not so bad and everything good was like rapture. The pictures that represented her ideas about herself were now being burned out, spanning from conception to now, like her existence was a canister of film, bathing in chemicals, then exited the darkroom into the sun, so that not only the picture changed but the negative, leaving a big bubbled burnt spot never to be returned or mended.

She said goodbye to her current self once more as she told him she loved him. When he paused, he turned to look at her, shaking and sweating, nearly unable to focus on higher thought. Perhaps she had said it too soon, but she was sure that she felt that way.

"I love you too, Chloé Masters."

When he said that he clutched her tightly and kissed her face and mouth all over. She held onto him, their foreheads now pressed together, their breath-taking turns skipping and moistening the other's lips. She nodded at him, just as he had at her.

When he looked into her eyes, she could see straight into the dark pools of his pupils. That was where she reached and pulled him into her. As she did that, he let go of himself and allowed her to lead them both.

"Come for me," she whispered.