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Carabella Ch. 01

By: DawnJ



The sound made her turn her head...and there he was, standing on the other side of the fountain. She couldn't possibly have heard his footsteps, so what sound made her aware of him? She shook her head and blinked, but he remained there. She could not tell if he was looking at her, though his face was turned toward her. He was far enough away that she didn't worry he could see the flush that stained her cheeks.

She had bumped into him a month ago, on her way out of the class that he taught. His subject was creative writing, and he was a published and noted writer of fantasy. She had read every one of his books, including two of the academic tomes he had published in the last five years. His work made her imagine herself in his world, involved in the affairs that drew the men and women he wrote about together. He made her lust as the women did, and often, after a particular scene, she found she needed a release she could not find in a toy.

She needed a man. But she was determined to finish her degree, before she let herself be distracted by her need to shag herself into ecstatic oblivion. And then she had bumped into him. The almost immediate kick low in her belly startled her. And his scent assaulted her senses, so much so she would have fallen if he hadn't grasped her by the elbow and held her upright. She had looked up at him, and seen a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, as though he knew something she didn't.

What bothered her even more, is that he was younger than her. Not a few measly years, but twelve. Thirty-three to her forty-five, he was virile, prime manhood, walking sex appeal, rugged and sinfully handsome - a veritable cliché of sexy hunkhood! And she knew, without having to be told, that every young woman in her class, and some of the older ones, nearer her age, sought after him as well. She remembered the first day she walked into the class, and saw the ratio of women to men, and wondered why. Her answer walked in the door, and she didn't need a tutorial to figure it out.

She turned her eyes away form him, and walked to the nearest park bench. It was lunchtime, and she had come out to get some of the crisp autumn sun. Yet even though she could no longer SEE him, she could FEEL him, as though he were right there, behind her, breathing down her neck. She shivered, and turned again...and he was there, walking toward her. Her heart raced.

"Geez, Cara, calm down! He probably hasn't even SEEN you! God! Get a damn grip! You're too old for him!"

His words two nights ago, as he walked her home, echoed in her head, though, giving the lie to that last statement. He had invited her out for a quick meal after she had stayed to help him set up the writing prompts for the freshman class. she had volunteered, against her better judgment, when he had asked for volunteers, and indicated extra credit on the next writing task was to be the reward. She needed to keep her grade an A, and she had been worrying about his final assignment, which he had distributed at the beginning of the semester, and which he had returned to, briefly the week prior, in order to have students ask their questions.

The "date" had been comfortable, after the work they had done together had eradicated the tension which had begun their time together. He had invited her to dinner, citing his own hunger as reason to believe she might be, too. After fumbling and spilling the water in her glass the third time he touched her accidentally, he had said,

"You know, Bella, we're both grown. I think it might be all right to relax with each other, don't you think? I don't bite, you know!" His smile had been...suggestive, to say the least, and she had known what he was thinking. Her surprise must have shown on her face, for he added, "I'd like it if were relaxed with each other, Bella! I'd like that a lot!"

He had looked at her with a deep something in his eyes, something she didn't recognize, and then had walked away. 

And now, he was almost upon her, the smile on his face clearly for her. She clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking as he came to stand before her.

"I thought it was you, Bella! I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

Without waiting for an answer, he sat next to her, his thigh brushing hers fleetingly before he moved it away. He had a brown paper bag in his hand, and she could smell something delicious filling the air between them. It smelled like fresh bread and meat.

"I brought you something," he said, as though he knew what she was thinking. "I hope you like it."

He opened the bag and withdrew, in its own sleeve, a pepperoni pretzel. The flavors teased her, making her mouth water, and she realized suddenly that she was hungry. She had her very sensible ham sandwich and green salad in her backpack, and two bottles of water. She remembered wondering why she was packing two bottles of water for lunch, since they were the extra large ones, and she never finished one at one time. Intuition? She pushed the troubling thought aside as she took the treat he handed her, and asked, trying to focus her thoughts,

"This is all you're having for lunch, Prof?" She smiled at him, and bit into the pretzel.

"No, I have a sandwich here as well," he answered, smiling back, and taking a huge bite out of his own. "I brought drinks for us, too," he added, indicating his own satchel, slung over his shoulder and down his side. "I hope you don't mind water. It seemed easiest to go with that."

Cara swallowed, and nodded, chuckling. When he looked quizzically at her, raising a brow, she said, "I brought two bottles of water, too!"

He smiled, and turned his eyes away from her to look out over the park. People were milling around, walking hither, thither, and yon, talking, laughing, frowning at their thoughts. Cara wondered if anyone noticed her sitting here next to her dream man. She choked on the next bite, and he turned and thumped her gently on the back.

"All right?" he asked, and took one of the bottles of Smart Water out of his bag. He opened it and handed it to her.

She took it and swallowed a big mouthful before nodding and saying, "Yes, thanks. Food went down the wrong way!"

And she knew why, too, though she was not about to share that thought with him. She had let it slip from her subconscious that he was her dream man. Shit! She couldn't allow this to continue. Having anything to do with him other than the strictly professional was asking for major trouble with a capital T! She stuffed the rest of the pretzel into the sleeve, drank some more from the bottle, and closed it. Then she turned to him again.

"I have a date with some research in the library," she lied, "so I'm afraid I'll have to eat and run." She stood up, and when he did, too, she added, "I'm sorry! If I had known we were to have lunch together I'd have made other arrangements!"

She wasn't sure she liked the smug look that slid across his face before he replaced it with a slow grin. 

"That's fine! I understand. Just one thing, though. Could you pass by my office this evening before you leave, please? I'll be there till eight."

He finished off his pretzel, and withdrew the other bottle of water, which he drank from thirstily. Cara blinked away the sight of his Adam's apple rising and falling as he swallowed. For some totally unknown reason, it was making her wish she could touch his throat with her tongue. Damn! She blinked again, and asked suspiciously, 

"Why? Is there something wrong with my last assignment?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he emptied the bottle, closed it and took her trash and his to the garbage bin. Then when he came back to where she was standing, he said,

"It's about your dissertation," he said. "I've had the notice from the dean that you have asked for me to be your dissertation director. We'll need to talk about that."

Cara blinked again. She wasn't sure what she had expected to hear, but it hadn't been something to do with business. Trying to shrug off the disappointment she felt creeping into her chest, and shake off the anger at herself for feeling it, she managed a small smile, and replied,

"Oh! All right. I'm done at around sixish, so I'll see you then?"

"That's fine. Push the door when you come! I'll be expecting you." He smiled at her again, and added, "I'll walk you back, then."

Cara didn't respond, but walked with him back to the university, where he left her as they approached the Humanities building. 

"See you later, then, Bella!" His smile was merely friendly, his nod curt as he turned away from her to pass through the enormous, aged and weathered wooden doors. Cara took herself off in the direction of the library, in case he was watching through one of panes of glass next to each panel of the door. It was her favorite building on campus with its floor to ceiling stained glass windows in the main lobby, and the rose windows in the library. The building was old, and full of stories -- the perfect place for a writer to study great writers, the history that made them, and then to create her own works to add to the roll.

She went in through the plate glass doors of the very modern general library, and then walked straight through to the back, exiting to sit on a bench in the little garden that was the only truly beautiful feature here. She opened her backpack and took out the rest of the pretzel, nibbling on it as she thought about what she would say to him when next they met. She assumed he would have questions about her project design, as well as about the annotated bibliography that she wanted to compose in lieu of an essay to complete the dissertation process.

She knew her project was ambitious, and some might say too literary to be truly creative, but she hoped to show him how her story of the time-traveling Anglo-Saxon warrior could "add some new discourse to the discipline" of medieval studies. She wasn't sure how he would take to the idea of a larger-than-life almost-superhero who learns all he needs to know to free his community from tyranny at the feet of a woman, but she would see. At the very least, she could scrap the edgy feminist approach if he was flatly against it.

She ate half her sandwich as she sat there, and finished the water he had given her. The sound of the clock chiming in the lobby made her check her watch. Time for class. This was her least favorite class of all, and the professor, an ancient woman of indeterminate but MANY years, presided over it with magisterial inflexibility and Darth Vader tones. Theory of writing -- what a bloody waste! Writing just is, Cara thought, as she trudged up the stairs to the third floor. What theory, for crying out loud? 

Across the courtyard, Rick watched Bella, as he thought of her, cross to the library, and wondered how he would manage to keep from touching her when she came for their first dissertation meeting. He had noticed her from the first day, when she walked out first, ahead of the younger members of the class, her head high, her shoulders square -- a certain sign that she was worried. Her credentials placed her at the top of his class, something it was clear she did not know, and he had decided he would wait to tell her till they had gotten to know each other better.

But, he admitted, as he walked up to his office, he had also been immensely physically attracted to her from the first. The second class she had been late, and forced by that circumstance to sit almost dead center of the classroom, second row. From that distance, he could see the rise and fall of her impressive breasts. Not that she did anything to draw undue attention to them. In fact, she had been wearing a loose sweater, heavy, almost ugly. But it had been a brilliant blue, almost jewel-toned, and topped a pair of blue corduroys that seemed to caress her backside despite not being skintight. 

And when, at the end of the class, she had been forced to approach him, as he demanded each student explain his or her lateness and absence personally, he had smelled her perfume. Boucheron, if he wasn't mistaken, and it suited her. Quietly elegant, understated, but packing a powerful sensual punch that kicked him in the groin, and made him adjust his stance in case his hard-on became noticeable. He had also, as an added precaution, buttoned his jacket, something he rarely did.

Reaching the door to his office, he pulled out the papers waiting or him in the pockets he had attached to it to allow students to submit work. Checking through to see whose work was late, as usual, he sighed. Why couldn't all his students be like Cara? After that one lateness, she had been punctual not only to class but also in submitting assignments. In fact, for a couple, she had been ahead of schedule. He suspected that she knew he had a pretty hectic schedule, and she was being considerate of him. 

He also suspected that she was keeping a distance between them because she felt the same sensual pull that he did. And she was an older woman -- twelve years. He had taken the liberty of checking on her files, on the pretext of wanting to find out what her other interests were, so he could help her focus her dissertation projects. When his boss had asked him why her statement was not sufficient, he had cited his habit of checking on the files of his most promising students, and since it was a well-known fact in the department, no further hindrance had been put in his way.

She looked damn hot for forty-five, he had decided, as he emptied his satchel and set the papers on the little worktable to the side of his desk. He had some grading to do, but first, he needed to finish his lunch, and prepare the worksheet that he would want Bella to complete in their first meeting. He knew that teacher-student relationships were frowned upon, but that was more for the undergraduates. He wondered, as he checked his messages, what would happen if she were attracted to him, too.

By the time her class ended, Cara was ready for anything that would take the bad taste of it out of her mouth. Today, they had studied the French feminists. Ugh! She escaped as quickly as she could from the room, and the sound of her younger, hipper classmates who were enamored of the ideas discussed today, and busily planning ways to include awareness of those theories in their next writing projects. 

She smiled in amusement, remembering her days of being just like them, before she discovered that what made her writing shine, and gained her the A's she worked hard for, was what SHE thought, not what the professors taught. Now she was confident about ignoring the theories, and labels, and ideas for improvement that usually had her sweating to write formula pieces which bored her, and usually her professors as well. She found herself outside his office before she even had time to prepare herself to meet the force of his presence and personality.

H. Erick Montienna, the nameplate on his door said. She had always wondered what the 'H' was for, and suspected it was probably not a name he liked. Harold, Harvey...a sound inside brought her back to the moment, and the reason she was there. Not to figure out what his first initial stood for. And certainly not to moon over him. She raised her hand to knock and remembered he had said to walk in. She pushed the lever down, and pushed the door. An errant thought had her stifling a shudder, as she saw, in her mind's eye, the hard body of the man she was about to meet above the nude but willing body of a coed looking to raise her score. 

She must have made a sound, because suddenly he was there, in her face, looking at her with a question in his eyes, which he verbalized.

"Something wrong?" he asked, coming to hold the door for her.

"Uh...no," she said hurriedly, and stepped aside, trying to avoid his touch. He closed the door, and turned to face her.

"Please, sit down," he invited her, showing her the chair in front of his desk. It was a comfortable leather armchair, a dark burgundy, and as she sat in it, Cara imagined herself in a kind of cocoon, and wished she could feel safe from this man's potent maleness. The picture that had flashed across her mind when she first entered lingered, but this time, his partner was not a coed. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, breathing slowly, and then opened them to find him looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" he asked her, although she had the uncanny feeling he knew exactly what was wrong.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she answered brightly, determined not to let her hormones get in the way of her studies. She finally looked him in the eye and waited for him to speak again.

Rick watched the expressions scroll across Bella's face, and knew instinctively that she was feeling the powerful sexual tension that had filled the room the moment she walked in. God help him he needed to touch her, but there had to be a reason to do so, and given the purpose for their meeting, he was hard pressed to find a way. So he took his eyes off her lush lips, still subtly red from the lip color she had applied before, and handed her the form he asked all his doctoral students to complete before he began working with them.

"I'd like you to fill this out for me, Bella. It'll help us plan a course for your dissertation project. I'd like it if you would fill it out now, so we can begin. Take your time, and be thorough, okay? I'll answer any questions you may have."

Bella took the paper from him, and their fingers touched. Instant heat flared in her cheeks and spread quickly. She fought to keep her hands from shaking, and said, to cover her nerves,

"May I use the worktable?" Her voice was steady, giving nothing away.

"Sure," he answered, and stood to clear a place for her there. As he stood back to let her by, he breathed in the scent of her perfume -- yeah, it was Boucheron, for sure -- and watched her try to avoid touching him. His groin kicked him again, hard, but he tried to ease the tension.

"Bella," he said as she tried to avoid him, and failed, "relax! I won't jump on you." He touched her arm deliberately, and added seductively, "Unless you ask me to!"

Cara looked up at him, and suddenly, it was too much. Rick stopped thinking, and let himself feel. He felt her breathing under his hand, felt her warm breath between them, felt her struggle to stay aloof from what he knew was inevitable. He bent his head and kissed her. It was a simple, clean, almost asexual kiss. But the touch of her lips under his inflamed him, and he let her go abruptly.

"Bella..." His low tone twanged the chord of tension that coiled inside her, and Cara backed away from him.

"Professor Mon..." she began, and he stopped her.

"Rick, Bella, call me Rick!" he insisted, and waited for her to comply.

"Look, Rick, I can't do this. Not now, and not here!" 

Even to her own ears, Cara's voice sounded harshly frightened. But she didn't care. His kiss had pushed her over an edge she hadn't even thought about, and she needed to step away before she lost her focus. This attraction to a man who was too young for her was entirely inappropriate, not to mention taboo in the university. She didn't want to be dismissed for bad behavior, nor did she want him to lose his job.

"I have to go, Rick. I'm sorry." 

She practically ran out of the office, and didn't stop till she was in the parking lot where her little yellow VW bug was parked.

Carabella Ch. 02



She practically ran out of the office, and didn't stop till she was in the parking lot where her little yellow VW bug was parked. She opened the door using the remote keypad, and threw her things on the passenger seat, before sliding in behind the wheel and resting her forehead on it. She waited for her breathing to calm, and then started the engine. Her hands still trembled slightly as she shifted into Drive, and headed toward the highway.

She felt like a fool now, as she merged into the traffic going northbound on the freeway. What had possessed her to run out as though the demons of hell were after her? She must have looked like a proper ass to Rick -- how easily his name came to her! The nickname suited his sensual good looks and superstar charm. She could so easily imagine him lounging around a Hollywood set, or vaulting fences and tackling bad guys. She let her mind wander along that path until a big semi flew past her with enough wind to make her little bug rock.

Her imagination had always gotten her into trouble, she realized, as she prepared to exit the freeway. If she hadn't gone in all starry-eyed and bowled over today, nothing would have happened, and he certainly wouldn't have kissed her. And yet she felt, as she turned onto the main drag in her small town, as if that that kiss had been inevitable, as if she could no more have stopped him from kissing her than she could have stopped herself from breathing. He was a force of Nature!

She drove into the supermarket parking lot, parked and went in, glad she had remembered she needed a few more items for the casserole she had promised to make for her friend's potluck party. It was her turn to bring the main dish, and she was making her favorite shepherd's pie, following her mother's family recipe. As she collected the items she needed, her mind went to the lunchtime meeting with Rick. It had been unexpected and, she admitted, delightful. If they were a couple, it would have been a romantic little gesture of affection.

She paid for her groceries, including the butter pecan ice cream she planned to indulge in later, after the casserole was done and she had her feet up, watching her favorite BBC shows. Taking a free real estate guide from the rack on the way out the door, she thought about how she would need to move within three months, and how the search for somewhere else to live had been going.

Back on the road, negotiating the lights, she thought of the last house she had visited a month earlier. It had been ideal in all but two important details -- it had five bedrooms, which drove up the price. What on God's green Earth was she to do with five bedrooms? She wasn't even married, for Pete's sake, and the prospect of children was a fast disappearing dream in her mind, so a house of that size would be a ridiculous expenditure!

But she had to admit that she loved the location, at the bottom of a long, dead-end lane, right by the water, no neighbors visible through the trees that cocooned it. It was a deep red in color, with white shutters on the windows, a wraparound porch, and large, spreading shade trees. The yard was wide, the driveway curving, the wooden bridge that led across the inlet to the other side a romantic extra.

Cara pulled in to the parking lot of her townhouse complex, and gathered her bits and bags. Locking the car, she walked up the three front steps to her door. The automatic sensor light had flashed on as she approached, and as she rested her groceries on the bench so she could open her front door, she thought again about how unsafe she felt in this place, despite its many brilliant lights. No one was ever around when she left, or when she returned, and she barely knew her neighbors.

Inside, the front door locked again, she flipped a switch and warm light pooled in the hallway. If only this townhouse was on that road, she thought again as she unpacked her supplies. She saw the message light flashing on the answering machine that she had on the counter, and she reached over to press the button. Her mother called again, wondering when she was coming by for a weekend, reminding her that she owed them a visit. Kate reminded her to bring ice cream as well to the party. Rick said he was coming over.

What? Hands suddenly shaking, she replayed the last message.

"Bella, I hope you're there when I get there, or else I'll have to camp out on your front porch. We have unfinished business."

Oh good grief! What the hell did he think he was doing? And when had he left that message? The time stamp said half an hour before she walked in. It was after seven now, and he had said he would be there till eight. So she had maybe an hour to clam her breathing, settle her stomach, and prepare her arguments against their going any further down the path of that fleeting kiss. Because she knew instinctively that their unfinished business had nothing to do with her dissertation project.

She had homework to do, and tomorrow she had plans to spend most of her day in the library working on the beginning of her dissertation project. The last thing she needed right now was another close encounter with the one man she most wanted to do the naughtiest, nastiest things to her, the man to whom she wanted to return the favor a hundred fold. She looked around her for a moment, remembering the first time he had taken her home. He hadn't come inside, but this time, she knew, unless she was planning to be incredibly rude, she would have to invite him in.

Which meant she needed to get a move on and tidy up a bit. Finishing the unpacking hurriedly, she went in to take a quick shower and then stood naked before her closet trying to decide what to wear.

"Geez, Cara, it's not a date, for God's sake!" She grumbled at herself as she put on cotton panties and a pair of faded jeans. The sleeveless tee she chose hugged her breasts, but she had wasted enough time deciding how to dress down, and she was hungry. Maybe he would be too? Walking barefooted back into the kitchen, she searched around for what to make that was quick. She had some leftover chicken soup from the day before, and she finally decided that she would have that with some hearty bread. If he was hungry, she'd make him a sandwich.

"You're forty-five years old, Cara! You've had men before. This is NOT a big deal!"

She talked at herself as she nuked the soup, toasted and buttered the bread, and sat at her table, legs curled under her Indian style on the chair. The food warmed her, and eating calmed her nerves. As she was finishing the last of the bread, her doorbell chimed. Taking a deep breath, she eased off the chair and walked to the door. Looking through the peephole, even though she knew who it was, she saw a huge bouquet of variegated flowers.

"Who is it?" she asked perversely.

"Who do you think, Bella?" Rick's voice was dark chocolate.

Cara opened the door and stood back to let him pass her. Closing the door again, she turned to find his eyes on her.

"Hi! Come through, please!"

She led the way out to the kitchen and cleared the dishes from the table, placing them in the sink. She'd pack them in the dishwasher later, when he was gone.

"These are for you," he said, and handed her the bouquet. She took it with a smile, careful to avoid touching him, and reached for the vase on top of the fridge to place them in.

"Thank you, they're beautiful, Rick!" As she arranged them, she turned to look at him. "How did you know that I love peonies?"

"I took a chance," he answered immediately, "especially after reading that last story you wrote."

The warmth in his eyes made her shiver, and she turned away, concentrating on the arrangement. She knew she was fiddling with it unnecessarily, and when she felt the warmth of his body behind her, she knew he knew it too.

"Bella," he said, turning her around, "stop running away!"

"I'm not running away!" she snapped, nerves making her shake under his hands. "Let me go, please! I need to..."

"You need to stop running from me!" he insisted, his eyes on her face, a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. "We have to work together, so you might as well get used to this."

Cara glared at him defiantly. "There is no 'this'," she said. "The university frowns upon professors and students running together, and anyway, we have nothing in common. And I can always find another dissertation director!"

She tried to pull away from his hands but he held her firmly, and waited patiently until she stilled. Then he smiled at her.

"How long have we known each other, Bella?" he asked. Cara looked at him in confusion. "Three months," she answered. "Why?"

"Three months," he echoed her words. "Three long months, in which I spent a total of three hours working with you alone, and taking you out for a meal. Don't you think it's time to get our feelings out in the open? We'll be working closely together for at least another year, and if we don't face this, every meeting will be uncomfortable. Not to mention, you won't do your best work."

He stopped and turned her face up to his. "Three months of watching you avoid me, of doing everything I could to stay out of your way. And then you went and broke my concentration by volunteering to help me. I don't know about you, but it's not been the same since then. I can't be alone, but there you are, in my mind, seducing me with..."

Cara pulled violently away from him at that.

"I have done NOTHING to seduce you, Professor Montienna, and I resent the implication!" She was indignant and red in the face with embarrassment as much as with rage. She turned away from him, ad walked to her front door. "I'd be grateful if you'd leave now. Thanks for the flowers!"

She waited for him to move, and when he approached her, Cara felt her heart dip in her chest. What was WRONG with her? She WANTED him to leave, didn't she? He had insulted her, and she was enraged with him, so why was the fact that he was doing as she asked making her feel lower than the slugs on the garden wall?

"I thought we'd agreed on Rick!" he commented mildly, reaching her. "And you have seduced me, Bella, whether you intended it or not." He pulled her into his arms, and Cara closed her eyes, not wanting to see the truth in his own. She felt his mouth on hers again, gentle, soft, and her eyes flew open again.

"Please, Rick!" She hated the way her voice sounded like someone who wanted his kisses, instead of someone who wanted to discourage them.

"What?" She was gratified to hear his voice, since it sounded a lot like hers.

"We shouldn't..." she began, but his mouth cut her off again.

This time, the kiss was anything but gentle. It was hard, hot, and loaded with all the sharp incisiveness of a man at the end of his rope. His arms tightened around her, and he deepened the kiss. His tongue burned her, his lips caressed hers, his arms cradled her. Cara tried and failed to stifle the moan of pleasure she felt.

"We should," he said, raising his head. "If I have to leave now, it won't be before I get my fill of the taste of you."

Cara saw his eyes light up, like flames were igniting in them, and she was lost. She opened her mouth when he kissed her this time, letting him take everything he wanted from her, discovering as he ravaged her mouth that she was as ravenous for him as he seemed to be for her. And she had never been kissed like he was kissing her just then. His mouth made her tingle, and his probing tongue made her wet. She trembled violently in his arms, trying and failing to keep her arms at her side.

When she raised her arms to hold him close to her, he inhaled deeply, and groaned, "Oh baby!" The sound ratcheted up her need immeasurably, and Cara echoed his groan. He pulled away from her enough to ask,

"Does this mean I can stay awhile?"

His tone was amused and aroused, and Cara had to struggle to keep the smile from creasing her cheek. She didn't want him to know how completely he had breached all her defenses, and how willing she was to let him stay as long as he liked. She lowered her eyes and stepped away from him.

"As long as we're clear that any seduction is yours, not mine!" She wished her voice sounded less shivery, as though she were struggling to keep her equilibrium. That that was actually the case was neither here nor there, she told herself, as she went to get the vase from the kitchen. The center table in her living room would be ideal for it. If only she could get to it.

Rick stood in her way, unmoving, his solid frame like a planted fortress gate that she did not have much chance of budging. She looked up in frustration as he took the vase from her and put it on the dividing wall between the kitchen and the living room.

"You're still running, Bella!"

Cara stood still then, perversely not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing how she quivered inside as he walked her backwards to the sofa and turning, dropped into it with her falling on top of him. She moved at that, definitely sure she didn't want to be in his lap, or anywhere were she could note the evidence of his feelings, or have proof of his allegations.

But Rick would not release her, try as she might to slide off him. She remained on his lap, half turned, her chest to his, one arm thrown by the falling over his shoulder. To keep her balance she had to keep it there, and indeed, she tried her damndest to avoid coming any closer to that wicked mouth. But he held her still, and kissed her again, pulling her other arm around him as well, treating her to a delicious taste of his desire as he sucked deliberately and sensually on her tongue. Finally, when Cara thought she had completely disintegrated into mush, he let her up.

Cara scrambled off his lap and tried to move away from him, but Rick was having none of it. This time, however, he stopped her without touching her.

"Bella, stay...please!" His voice was a hoarse shadow of itself, and it shook her into stillness. She sat next to him, and turned to see if his face showed what his voice said.

"We need to talk about this, before the desire gets out of control, don't you think?" He took her hands in his, and raised them to his lips. "I don't want to keep pretending I don't have an interest in you anymore. I want us to explore this, to find out where it will take us. It's been torture for me, especially since we had dinner a month ago. You have no idea how desperately I have wanted to touch you like I have been doing since I got here."

He stopped, let go of her hands, and stood up to pace away from her across to the door. She looked at him in alarm. He wasn't planning on leaving NOW, was he, when her body was buzzing from his touch, and her mouth still tasted the flavor of his desire on her tongue? But he stopped by the door and faced her, hands in his pockets, and she knew, suddenly, what that gesture meant. And into her mind's eye flashed all the other occasions on which his hands had been in his pockets.

"Rick, I'm sure you know that I'm significantly older than you," she began haltingly, knowing it was time she contributed something other than outraged innocence to the conversation. "What you don't know is that I have two failed relationships behind me, and I'm very wary of a third."

She bit her lip and stopped, not sure what else she could say to warn him off her. She knew how she felt, how she had always felt about him, but she was old enough to know that fairy tales did NOT come true, no matter how hard you wished. Unless you were a character in a story. And she knew that Prince Charming only chose the virginal young princess. Not only was she NOT virginal, but she was far from young, and no princess. Time to face reality. She cleared her throat again, and opened her mouth to continue the speech for the prosecution that would sway the jury against her.

Rick stopped her again. "Before you tell me how old you are, and how unsuited we are to each other, let me just say that in my family, most of the wives are older than their husbands, some significantly. My parents are one example, and they are as happy together now as they have ever been in almost forty years of marriage."

He walked back over to where she sat, watching his face with hungry eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that, if you don't want to end up horizontal tonight!"

His threat held a dangerously sensual promise that sent fire sluicing through her system, flooding her nerve endings and dampening her already damp undies. She looked away from his heated gaze, and he continued,

"Nothing you can say will change what I've been feeling, Bella. So don't waste time trying." He pulled her out of her seat, and held her at arm's length. "So, what are we going to do about this? Aside from me learning how to curb my enthusiasm in public?"

He looked down at his front, and Cara's eyes followed his, noting the significant tenting in the front of his pants. She blushed to the roots of her hair and looked away hurriedly, wishing she could muster the gumption to stop acting like a green girl on her first date. She was a grown woman with a fairly checkered past, of which Rick was entirely ignorant.

The buzz that had started again low in her belly fizzled at that thought, and Rick must have noticed her sudden stillness, because he raised her chin and asked,

"What's wrong?" His eyes held that same intense heat, and worry now, as well.

Cara squared her shoulders and lied. "Nothing!" She forced a note of certainty into her voice, and hoped he bought it. There was no way on Earth that she was going to spill any beans tonight. They had just kissed a few times, and yes, it was obvious he wanted her, but that didn't mean she had to come unglued and lose the control she had prided herself on maintaining over the years, and through all the pain.

"I need to hear you tell me how you feel, Bella," he said, after a long pause in which he searched her face to see if he believed her.

Cara's pulse sped up again. He was not letting up the pressure this evening, and she supposed she understood. In fact, she knew she did. It was how she felt, like a volcanic eruption simmering, waiting, holding itself in.

"You know how I feel, Rick," she temporized, knowing as she did that he wouldn't let her get away with it.

He studied her face, a small smile playing about his ips, and then he shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid I don't. In fact, if I'm to go by appearances, you're afraid of me, and suffer my kisses because you aren't strong enough to resist me. Truth be told, I feel almost like a rapist!"

Damn! Cara's eyes flew to his face, searching to see if he meant it, but he shielded his feelings from her now under hooded lids. She didn't want him to think he was forcing himself on her! She hastened to correct the error.

"No, Rick, no! Please don't think you're forcing yourself on me, because you're not! I..." She faltered, and he only waited, unmoving, his hands on her elbows.

"Come on, baby, is it that hard to tell me how you feel about me?" His voice was a gentle caress. He began a corresponding circling of his thumbs over the sensitive flesh at her elbow, making her insides quiver. She tried and failed to stop herself from shivering, and gave up, angry as she was aroused.

"I'm very attracted to you too, Rick!" she admitted almost in a temper. "And I wanted your kisses." She stole a look at his face, and the emotion she saw there, made her confess the rest. "I love your kisses."

It seemed as though that last sentence was his undoing. He pulled her sharply into his body, like a soldier snapping to attention, and begged her, before he kissed her,

"Kiss me back, baby!"

Cara let go of her fear, her worry, of everything except the pulsing desire that was all but choking her now, and gave him her tongue, before trying for his herself. And when he let her have it, she suckled him like a starving infant, feeling him press himself against her wanting body, feeling the hard thudding of his heart under her questing hands, tasting the flavor of his desire on her tongue. Rick slowly lowered her to the sofa again, and this time, he came down atop her, pressing her into the soft cushions, not letting her mouth go, until they had to come up for air.




Carabella Ch. 02



He kissed her jaw, her neck, and pushed the T-shirt off one shoulder so he could kiss the mole on her shoulder blade. His hands framed her face, and he inhaled the scent of her perfume and her breath, and knew if he didn't get off her, he wouldn't leave that night. He groaned, desperately wishing he could stay right where he was, and drive her wild for him. But the adult part of his brain said this wasn't the time for that. He groaned again, as much with frustration as with lust, because she had snaked her hand down his back to his ass and was stroking him there, and sliding her warm fingers under the waistband of his trousers.

"Bella, baby..." His hips jerked in reaction to her touch, and he ground himself against her. The press of his heavy cock between her thighs tore an answering groan from her throat, and they returned to each other's mouths with hungry desperation. Rick knew he would never make it if they didn't stop this heated foreplay. He tried again.

"Bella, please, baby! Maybe we need to slow it down, huh?"



Carabella Ch. 03



Her hand behind his head, bringing him once again to her starving mouth cut the cord to his common sense, and he devoured her, pressing her into the cushions of the sofa, rolling his hips between her spread legs, feeling her heat. He could feel her heartbeat against his mouth and hands, and he was sure she could feel his, too. He struggled to think through the heat of her, through the sweet taste of her, and failed utterly.

"Does this mean I can stay all night?" he whispered harshly against her throat, having dragged his hungry mouth from hers a moment ago.

He felt her still against him, and looked into her eyes.

"I take it that's a no, love!" 

He saw the answer in her eyes, and pressed a tender kiss on her cheek, before pushing off her and rising to his feet. Pushing a shaking hand through his hair, tousling it irrevocably, he watched her as she sat up, straightening her clothes, and putting a hand to her lips. He could almost hear her thinking. Part of him wanted to seduce her and take what he had been longing for for three months. The other part, the reasonable, calm adult, recognized the need for patience. 

"Bella, I'm sorry!" He pushed his hands through his hair again and turned away from the sight of her, as rumpled as he, as needy, and he wished he could hold her and tell her what he was really feeling. He wished he could assure her that he would never hurt her, but he knew if he took more than she was ready to give him, he would hurt her irrevocably. 

She stood up and faced him bravely, even though he could see the uncertainty in her eyes, before she shuttered them and presented a cool front.

"I think maybe you were right, Rick." She cast a rueful smile his way. "I'm sorry I forgot myself there for a minute."

She walked past him, studiously avoiding touching him, and went into the kitchen, but sure what she wanted to do, but knowing she needed to put some distance between them. She might want his kisses, might even need them, but they hadn't said two words to each other of any kind to allow them to jump in the sack together. There was a limit to how modern she was prepared to be. For now...

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked. 

Rick turned to look at her, and bit back the answer that came first to his lips. Satisfying himself with a nod, he swallowed against the desire to taste her, to drink from her, and followed her to the kitchen, where he sat at the table and watched her reach down a bottle of wine. He could feel the fine tension in the room, and saw by the set of her shoulders, and the slight trembling she fought to hide from him, that she was still as tightly wound as he was. It thrilled him to know that all he had to do was touch her, and she would fall apart.

"Merlot?" she asked, turning to him. "It's not my favorite, but guests seem to like it."

"I'll only drink what you enjoy, Bella!" He smiled at her, wanting to defuse the tension and help her relax. "I'm not fussy!"

"Are you sure?" 

Her eyes never left his face, and he saw when they slid down to take in his mouth. He smiled again, and watched her blink to clear the arousal from her gaze. His cock jerked. Well damn! Seemed all she had to do was look at him with hunger in her eyes and he was a goner! 

"I'm sure!" he answered. "What do you like to drink?"

"I really feel like a glass of sherry," she said, and reached to replace the bottle she held with sherry. 

Harvey's Bristol Crème, he noticed. He watched her pour two generous glasses, and accepted the one she handed him with another smile. 

"Cheers!" she said, tipping her glass to his.

"Skol!" he replied, gently touching his glass to hers. 

She took a generous swallow, and Rick had to restrain the grin that fought to crease his cheeks. Liquid courage, he knew, and sipped his own. He may not intend to make love to her tonight, but he sure as hell wasn't about to leave any time soon. He was driving, so he had to make sure to remain clear-headed. He chuckled at the thought. Bella made him completely befuddled. She dazzled him and shook his control. He blinked when he heard his name, and focused on her.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked what was funny!" she said sharply.

"Nothing! Just a thought!" He took another sip and watched her wrap her fingers around her own glass. His mental screen saw that hand wrapped around his cock and he had to smother the groan that brought to his throat.

"Bella, you have to know that you are always on my mind! You're my first thought when I wake up, and my last before I fall asleep. It doesn't take anything to distract me from my routines these days. All I have to do is think of you, and I'm lost." 

He sipped his sherry again, then put the glass down and reached for her, circling her wrists where they rested on the table. He could feel her pulse beating heavily in them, and the motion echoed the pulsing of his own. He caressed the insides of her wrists tenderly with his thumbs, and heard her catch her breath. The caress was seductive and erotic, stirring his blood more. He let her go, not willing to push her any further, and waited for her response.

"I can't imagine why," she answered with a small smile. "Surely there is some woman your age waiting in the wings for you to look at her? Don't ask me to believe you've been blind to all the attention the women in oyur classes give you, and I don't mean your lectures either!"

They chuckled together at that, and Rick said, 

"I feel about them the way you used to feel about me." He stopped and looked into her eyes, putting a finger under her chin when she lowered her gaze, and forcing her to look at him again. "You HAVE stopped thinking like that, haven't you, beautiful?"

"What do you think?" Cara hedged, and he chuckled at her avoidance.

"What if I say I don't know?" he asked, holding her gaze with eyes grown dark with suppressed desires. "Would you tell me, or hide it from me?"

Rick saw her struggle, and added, "I should warn you that should you choose to prevaricate, or refuse to tell me what I want to know, I have deliciously torturous ways to punish you!" 

Cara raised the glass to her lips and gulped again. "What if I chose to hide because I want to see what you'll do to me?"

Rick's eyes narrowed, and he watched the color slide up her neck to her cheeks with amused intensity. Damn if she wasn't making a pass at him! He liked it! So much he couldn't stop himself from moving around the table, taking the glass gently from her fingers, placing it on the table, and pulling her to him.

"We both know you'll enjoy anything I do to you," he said, his voice hoarse. "And I'd enjoy doing it. It would turn me on. Wanna turn me on, baby?"

"I believe you're already in a state, Rick!" she pointed out. "Seems my job is done!" she added reasonably, a sexy smile curving her lips. "Thank you!" she ended facetiously, and slipped from his hands, walking away to the hallway leading to the back of her home. 

Rick followed her and caught her as she opened the door to her bathroom. 

"You can't run away anymore, you know?" he said, grabbing her wrist.

"Can't a girl take a bathroom break?" she asked innocently, peeking out at him from under flirtatious lashes.

Rick laughed, suddenly lighthearted. If she had relaxed enough to flirt with him, things were definitely looking up.

"A girl can, if she doesn't take too long!" he answered. "Otherwise, a guy might think she's hiding, and come in to get her!"

Cara raised startled eyes to his face at that, and he added, "So hurry up!" He dropped a hard kiss on her softly parted lips, and when she opened for him, he deepened it, drawing her tongue into his mouth, loving the silky feel of her on his tongue, and the way she leaned into him. When she pulled away from him, he felt the loss immediately.

"If you don't want to help me clean up the puddles, you'd better let me go!" she said, her own voice husky with lust and laughter. "I'll hurry, I promise!" Then she closed the door in his face.

When she opened the door again, he was nowhere in sight. She walked back into the front hall and found him kneeling in front of her DVD collection.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, walking over to where he was on the floor.

"A chick flick," he answered immediately. "We can have popcorn and watch a sappy love story, and I can cuddle with you and drive us both crazy with lust."

He looked up as he stopped speaking and caught the raw desire in her eyes before she shuttered them and turned away.

"I'll get the popcorn," she said, and he knew she was avoiding the final moment when she had to sit next to him and let him take her away from all the fears and worries that had her dropping the packages she pulled from her kitchen cabinet.

"Need some help?" he asked, coming over to her, two DVD's in his hand.

"No, I'm fine!" She whirled to face him, her cheeks flushed, and looked at the discs in his hand. "What do you have there?"

"Pretty Woman and Pride and prejudice. Which one would you like to see?" 

"That's so not fair, Rick! Elizabeth and Vivian? They're not in the same league at all!" She chuckled as she placed a packet of popcorn into the microwave and started it. "You choose!"

She tried to move away form him, but this time, he didn't let her pass. He held her with his body against the counter.

"Personally, Elizabeth is my kind of girl! I watched that movie again the weekend after we met for the first time, and she made me think of you." He bent his head and trailed his warm lips over her cheeks. "I got so hard, a cold shower did me no good!" He pressed a hard kiss to her lips, slipping his tongue between them and making her open to him.

"Elizabeth is a girl! I'm grown!" She arched a brow at him, and tiptoed up to kiss his cheek. "And how bad is it when a character in a story makes you hard?" she teased.

"Which is why," he whispered, "you're not gonna escape me again! All that lovely energy wasted!" He grinned at the look on her face, and kissed her again.

"So it's Elizabeth, then?" she asked, as he let her go to get the popcorn from the microwave, and put in another.

"Mmhmmm!" he mumbled, dropping the DVDs and wrapping his arms around her. "I'd personally like to start at the point where she tells Darcy she loves him, and extemporize from there!" Another deep kiss. "What do you say, hmmm? Are you game?" Another kiss, this time on the cloth-covered breasts that pushed against his chest.

"Sounds...delightful!" Cara managed, breathing heavily when he pushed her shirt up and caressed her bare back.

"Jesus, Bella, you're so warm and soft!" He bent to eat at her mouth again, and the microwave beeped.

Cara turned in his arms and took the popcorn out of the microwave.

"Movie time, Rick!" she whispered, turning back to face him. 

His arms still held her loosely, and he said, "What I wouldn't give for some of what Edward gives Vivian right now!" He looked deeply into her eyes, and told her,

"I want you, Bella! More than I can explain." He pushed his straining erection against her by way of corroborating evidence, and when she groaned, he kissed her hard. 

"Let's go get hard together, baby!"



Carabella Ch. 04



Cara felt herself warm all over at his words, and she had to concentrate in order to remember what she was doing. Good grief, she thought as she turned again and reached for two bowls in which to empty the bags of popcorn, I'm as light-headed as a schoolgirl on her first date! She got them down, but Rick was not apparently inclined to let her go. When she turned back once more, he took the bowls from her and kissed her soundly. She told herself she was using him as an anchor so she wouldn't fall when her arms went round his neck and held him closer, but she knew it was a bold-faced lie, because she also used them to pull him in so she could deepen the kiss and feel more of him.

"We..." she struggled to find words to break the spell. Closing her eyes and dropping her arms, she tried again. "Aren't we going to watch the movie?"

Rick inhaled deeply, and released her slowly, but shooed her away when she tried to get the bowls.

"Go set it up! I'll do the food!" And as she walked away, he added, "Want butter?"

"Yes, thanks!" She might as well live dangerously with the butter, since she was well beyond the danger mark in this relationship with her professor, she argued with herself as she set the DVD into the slot. And she might as well go for broke she added recklessly, as she dimmed the lights.

"Here we are then!" Rick's voice sounded above her left ear as she sat down. 

He sat next to her, placing her bowl next to her on the little table, and his own on the center table in front of them. He picked up the remote control and pressed "Play", and then settled back, making no bones about draping his arm across her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. He stretched his legs out in front of him, and let her pull her feet up under her.

"This is comfy!" she said, and he could hear the nervous tension in her voice, though she made no attempt to remove his hand or move away. 

When she reached for her popcorn, he got it and settled it on her lap.

"Ready?" he asked her, and when she nodded, he turned the volume up and settled his back against the seat. The familiar music began and he could hear her humming it as the movie began. He found he couldn't keep his eyes on the screen, but kept looking down into her face to watch her expressions, which ranged from amusement to annoyance to derision. He marveled at the fluidity of her features, at her relaxed pose, at her total absorption in the events unfolding before her eyes. To look at her, one would never know she had seen it before, and yet there was a knowing about her that made her comments amusing.

Rick found his lust for Cara growing as he sat there, his arm around her shoulder, his eyes on her face. He hardly knew where they were in the movie from moment to moment, and his popcorn remained untouched. He really wanted to take it slow with her, but his body was crying out for more than a taste of her mouth. Where her body rested lightly against his, he burned, and every time she moved, the flame grew hotter. He found his hands tightening on her shoulders, and by the time Elizabeth was refusing Darcy's first proposal of marriage, their faces wet with rain, Darcy's eyes full of heat and passion, he was as wound up as the pair on the screen.

He watched her face as the couple stared heatedly at each other, and the look of longing stunned him. What he wouldn't give for her to look at HIM that way! He moved, putting his other arm around her and hugging her, wanting to start something he had said he wouldn't. He tilted her head, though, and stared into her eyes, before taking her slightly parted lips between his own, and starting a seduction of her senses that took them well beyond any hope of ignoring the heat between them. By the time she had her arms around his neck, demanding as she gave searing kisses, Elizabeth and Darcy had long spoken their love and sealed it with kisses as well.

"Bella," he whispered, amusement and lust warring in his tone, "we need to make a plan. We can't go on like this, and I'll be damned if I let you go!"

Cara stirred in his arms. By now, she was half lying on the couch, her bottom on his lap. She was trembling uncontrollably, her desire for him more pressing and compelling than anything she had ever felt, her ability to control it shot to hell. She was grateful that he seemed to be able to control his own, or she knew where this foreplay would end.

"Why do you call me 'Bella'?" she asked, out of the blue, surprising herself and, she suspected, him.

"It's your name, beautiful!" he said, feathering kisses across her forehead and eyes.

"My name is Carabella," she answered amusedly. 

"A mouthful," he said, "like the rest of you!" 

Before she could speak again, he stopped her by the simple introduction of his tongue between her kiss-swollen lips. Cara felt every nerve in her body, like pinpoints of light, as his hand smoothed over her thighs, and as he pressed himself against her backside.

"So, you don't like mouthfuls, then?" she wondered hoarsely, between hot kisses.

A hand reached down to fondle the swell of her breast under the T-shirt. 

"I'd love a mouthful of this," he answered her, and lowered his head to take it, through the cloth of her top. 

Cara could not restrain the moan that flew from her. He suckled her nipple through the shirt, and when he felt her shudder, he moved it up and so exposed the thin bra she wore, wet through from his mouth. She watched his eyes darken as he stared at her, and when he renewed the assault, she groaned harshly and arched into his mouth. His teeth scraped searingly over the hard point, and his tongue swept in behind to soothe the burning flesh.

"God, I could eat you up!" he confessed, shifting his own body, and moving her so her other breast was exposed to his gaze and his hungry mouth.

Cara felt his mouth renew the assault on the other breast, while his shaking hand squeezed and rubbed the well-tended first one. She was helpless against his ministrations, wanting him so fiercely now that it was all she could manage to keep herself from begging him to take more. Her age, their situation as student and teacher -- nothing seemed to matter but this one moment, this one deep, dark need. When she felt his hand slide down over her belly to the waistband of her jeans, she rejoiced silently, even as she held herself still, waiting for the invasion that would make her mindless.

"You're killing me, you know," she murmured huskily, when he let his hand just sit under the button of her jeans, not moving it, torturing her belly and that little spot that screamed for his touch now.

She felt his smile against her mouth but he let his hand just sit, while he devoured her everywhere else. She found she could barely hang on to him, her arms felt so heavy. She let him have her tongue, arched for him so he could better reach the tender swell of her breasts and the curve of her neck. And all the while she could feel him press his erection against her, tormenting her as she ground herself against him. Finally, his trembling fingers pulled the button of her jeans and he slid his hand under both jeans and panties to tease the now wet slit. She could smell her arousal as he fondled her lightly there, not touching her clit, not even venturing too far between those wet lips, just spreading them and making her squirm and writhe and try to get him to do more.

"If I do what your hips keep telling me to do, we'll both be in very deep trouble, Bella!" he whispered.

"My hips don't lie!" she quipped, and felt his answering chuckle roll over her.

"No belly dancing, either, you temptress! My poor hormones can't stand any more!"

"Fortunately for you, I'm no Shakira!" she said, sliding her lips over the hard jut of his chin, letting her tongue leave a trail of heat in its wake.

Pulling his head down for another kiss, she opened her legs, and felt the jeans press his fingers further into her slit. She moaned, and Rick rewarded her by pushing in further, finally touching the hardening nub, she swore it caught fire when he touched it, and he drove her crazy with his light taps and circles.

"Rick..." She was begging him to touch her, but she couldn't seem to find an ounce of shame or embarrassment.

"Bella, if you don't want me to stay all night, I need to leave now!" His voice was tortured, as he rested his forehead against hers, stilling his teasing hand and sliding it out of her underwear. He hugged her, and she could feel the fine trembling that he was trying to control.

He sighed deeply. "Like I said, we need a plan. Tomorrow's Friday. Dinner?"

Cara shook her head. "Girls' night out! I'm to bring the casserole and a dessert. In fact, I was supposed to be cooking it tonight."

"I'd like having dessert with you," he whispered sexily. "Fact is, I'd like YOU for dessert!"

Cara shivered at his tone, and he kissed her, as though he couldn't help himself. 

"How about Saturday?" he persisted. "Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? All of them?"

"I was planning a run up to visit my mother," she said into his neck, kissing him there, loving the way his skin warmed her cheeks.

"I'll take you, and you can introduce me," he suggested immediately.

When Cara hesitated, Rick moved, taking the opportunity to put a little bit of distance between their heated bodies. He knew he had to cool off before he left, and he knew he had to leave soon.

"Why does the thought of introducing me to your mother terrify you?" he asked, settling her on the couch beside him, and turning her face up to his. 

"I am not terrified!" she snapped, but her eyes grew shadowed.

Rick made her look at him. "So tell me, why the hesitation, then?"

"She will make assumptions!" she said baldly, and stared back at him. "We are only just getting to know each other, Rick! I don't want her thinking..."

"That we're an item? That we're in love? That I'm to be her new son?"

His words battered against the part of her that Cara kept hidden from the world, barricaded against assault and pain.

"What's so bad if she thinks any of those things? Hmmm? We both know what we feel, and who we are."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Rick," she said wearily, resignedly.

"So tell me on the way up there. In fact, you can start telling me at lunch tomorrow. I know you'll be on campus."

Cara looked at him in surprise. "How do you know that?" she asked sharply.

"I have my ways," he said smugly. "You have no idea how you have bewitched me, young lady, and it's payback time!"

He bent suddenly and covered her mouth with his own. This kiss was slow and hard and deep, catching her off guard. But before she could respond as she wanted to, he pulled back from her.

"So, want help with the casserole? Four hands are better than two, you know!" His grin split his cheeks, and she laughed.

"I wouldn't want to bother you, Rick," she said, "especially since I assume you have preparations to make for tomorrow's classes."

"How do you know I have classes tomorrow?" he asked, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I have my ways," she echoed him, and he burst out laughing.

"It's fine. They're afternoon classes. I can sleep in. Come on, tell me how I can help before I go!"

Cara stood and pulled him up with her. Leading him into the kitchen, she found things for him to do, as she prepared the casserole, made the creamy confection she was famous for at her friends' potlucks, and sipped more sherry. At every turn, Rick touched her -- lingering, sweet, sensual touches wherever his hungry fingers landed -- and by the time the casserole was ready to be placed in the oven, he had her pressed up against the center island counter, her body warm and hungry for him, his mouth devouring her, their moans heating up the already steamy air.

"Bella, I need to go, love," he whispered brokenly. "Now!"

"Why?" Cara should have been horrified to hear the question, and the tone in which she asked it, but she was too busy trying to get her hand around the evidence of Rick's own glaring need for her.

"You know it's too soon, don't you, love?" He laid his forehead against hers, breathing harshly, trying to keep his hands off her breasts, off her.

"Maybe, but if you touch me, just one more time, I'll let you go, okay? I promise!"

She felt no shame for begging. Her flesh reeled from the need for his touch, her hands burned to touch him.

He slid his arms around her, trying desperately to keep them above her waist, away from the places she wanted to feel him, and she growled at him. He laughed softly.

"You're a wild one when you're aroused, aren't you, missy?" He kissed the tip of her nose, and when she turned up her mouth, he groaned and kissed her hungrily.

"One touch, Rick!" Her flesh rejoiced when he slid his hand down the line of her hips and gripped her bottom, pulling her into him. She went willingly, and reveled in his hard hands on her flesh, in his hard erection in her crease. 

"So, lunch tomorrow? My office!" Rick pulled away from her. "My treat, okay?"

Cara nodded, unable to speak, and unwilling to try, for fear she begged again. He was right, of course, to hold off, while she was forgetting herself for lust. Morning would come, she thought as she walked with him to her door, and watched him get into his car and drive away, and Rick would see sense, and realize that they couldn't have anything real together, but she would still be able to hold her head high, if she didn't beg now.

Next day, she spent the morning trying to prepare the document he wanted her to complete, and then to do some writing for her class, but she was distracted, and could hardly focus. When the great clock in the college chapel bell tower tolled the noon hour, she rose reluctantly and went to his office. Outside his door, she hesitated. He might not be there -- they hadn't decided when "lunch time" would be. Maybe she should wait. Maybe she...

The door opened wider, and a student walked out, smiling at her as he passed. She could hear him moving around inside, and if she moved a step to her right, she was sure she would see him. 

"Come in, Bella!" he called out to her, effectively cutting off the retreat she was about to make. How in the world did he know she was out there?

"Hi!" she said stepping inside and hesitating by the door.

He walked over to her and closed the door behind her. Pulling her to him, he laved her lips with his eager, hungry tongue, kissing her mindless before letting them both up for air.

"Maybe we should eat the food I brought for lunch, or else YOU'LL be lunch, baby!"

His voice was hoarse, his eyes dark with increasing desire for a taste of her.

"So, what did you bring?" She managed to squeeze the question past her dry throat, and step away from him to sit at his worktable in the chair there.

"Rick's homemade power sub!" he announced, and placed a huge sandwich in front of her. He opened the package, and revealed a twelve-inch sub, with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and a spicy-sweet mustard dressing. She could smell the tempting flavors, and suddenly she was ravenous. Was that onions she was smelling as well? She took a bite, and the pleasurable tastes burst on her tongue.

"Mmmmm!" she moaned. "This is good, Rick!" She reached for a napkin, a few of which he had set next to the sandwich, to clean the smudge of mustard from the corners of her mouth, but Rick stopped her.

"Lick it off, Bella! Please!" 

His voice was hoarse, and his eyes watched her as she obliged, the movement of her tongue the most erotic thing she had ever done. Why that was she couldn't fathom, unless it had something to do with the man who was watching as she licked herself clean, the look of a cat waiting to pounce in his eyes. She felt the heat of an unexpected arousal beginning to creep up her cheeks, and she lowered her eyes to the sandwich, but before she could take another bite, to distract herself, she felt Rick's tongue where hers had been.

The flash fire of heat that arced over her seared her where she sat, as still as a stone in a quiet pool. He raised her head with a finger under her chin, and asked, his voice casual, his eyes not,

"Sure you can't cry off the girls' night out tonight?"

Her eyelids fluttered closed as he licked her again, this time across her full bottom lip. She fought to contain the moan, this one so different from the one that had escaped her when she had taken that first bite. Trying to focus on his question when he was slowly driving her insane with his tongue was a feat deserving of much more credit than she would ever receive.

"Why?" She was startled at the huskiness of her voice, and she cleared her throat.

"I want you!" he answered simply. "And I'm not sure I can wait as long as tomorrow night!"

She dragged her eyes open again, despite the havoc he was playing with the nerve endings in her earlobes.

"Tomorrow?" She frowned and drew away, as much as he would let her. "What were you planning for tomorrow?"

"To seduce you into my bed, when we got home from your mother's." 

Another simple, honest answer, and she was flummoxed. 

"When was I going to be told about this plan?" she asked, wishing she could sound outraged, instead of really turned on.

"When I seduced you, baby!" he chuckled. "It would have been crystal clear to you then!"

He finally moved away from her, and she collapsed bonelessly against the back of the seat. She could find nothing to say to that piece of arrogance, and found she had to resist the urge to smile at his romantic tenacity.

"Maybe we should have had lunch at your place, then, since I'm sure the university would be appalled to know what you do with your female students in your office!"

His eyes flared, and then darkened. Before she knew it, Cara was being hustled out the door, across the campus to his car. She did not protest. Somehow, she knew this was really what she had wanted when she had made that comment. She sat meekly as he drove, not noticing particularly where they were headed, because she could not take her eyes off his hands, one on the steering wheel, the other on the gear shift. They were big man's hands, long-fingered and rope-veined, nails blunt cut and clean, the signet ring on his right hand winking as the sunlight hit it.

He lived on a quiet street, a cul-de-sac, his house the last one in the back, with woods behind it, and she knew, because she often hiked in them, a large lake behind the woods. As the garage door closed behind them, the engine stilled, and Cara felt immediately the potency of the tension stretching between them. She felt his gaze on her in the cool dimness of the garage, and she began to babble before he could speak.

"Won't you be late for your afternoon class?"

She stole a look at him then, and gasped when he pulled her to him and kissed her hard and deep, pushing his tongue past her teeth and suckling hers hungrily.

"I'll eat on the way back. It's at 3:30." He kissed her again, and then added, "Come inside now! I need you!"

He got out of the car and came around the front to get her, kissing her again against the side of the car before pulling her away to close the door. He opened the door to the house and Cara walked into a largish kitchen, sunny in the midday, with cheerful yellow curtains at the windows and a bouquet of roses on the little round table in the corner. She had no time to look further before she was being pulled along a hallway to the back of the house, to a large, high-ceilinged bedroom in which a California king-sized bed ruled supreme.

Rick's hands on her bottom, pulling her into him, distracted her from the elegant masculinity of the room. He was hard, and ready for her, and not willing to wait any longer. 

"I wake up in the middle of the night," he informed her as he slowly shifted her top over her head, "and I'm so hard, it hurts, because I've been dreaming about you." 




Carabella Ch. 04



He trailed tender kisses over her neck and shoulders, before taking another deep, hard, soul-wrecking kiss from her mouth. 

"I've dreamed of you naked under me, crying out as we make love!" 

Another eating kiss, before he trailed a hand down her side to the jeans at her waist. Undoing the button and pulling the zipper down, he slid a trembling hand under the waistband of her panties and pushed a finger between her soaking lips. Cara groaned as he circled her hardening clit, and gasped when he flicked it gently, teasingly.

"I don't think I can stand to tease you too much longer, sweet thing!" he whispered into her mouth as he took another kiss. 

Keeping his fingers busy in her panties, Rick lowered her gently onto the bed, and pushed her to lie back so he could pull the jeans and panties off her. The sight of her closely- trimmed mound made him groan and pass his hand over the hairs, causing an answering groan to ripple from her throat. He knelt before her and pushed her legs open, drawing the scent of her desire into his nostrils, before bending closer and tasting her.

"Ambrosia!" he whispered. "You taste like heaven, baby!" 

Rick's breath wafted over Cara's needy flesh, raising her blood pressure, and when he dipped his tongue inside her hot channel, she arched off the bed, almost mindless with need. He was unrelenting, lapping up her cream and driving her closer to the top. She felt his hands on her nipples, pulling and squeezing, before one hand slid down to caress her hard little nub. A hard thrust, and a slap to her clit, and she came, her head feeling like the top had just blown off it.

Rick continued to kiss her there, where she shook and throbbed, until the tremors died away, and she was limp. Cara became gradually aware that she was naked while he was still fully clothed. The color sped up her body, warming her, and she struggled to sit up. Rick stood over her, his eyes dark with lust, and watched her watch him undress. His body was lithe and strong, his arms and legs long and heavily muscled. His chest was ripped, his six-pack putting paid to the idea that he was like any other professor she had ever had.

And when her eyes fell to the evidence of his continued desire for her, they widened in shock. How in the world was she ever going to accommodate all that delicious-looking length? Her mouth watered for a taste of him, and she reached for him, intent on sating her desires, but he pushed her hands away.

"No, not this time! If you touch me, it's over! And I don't want it to be over just yet, baby! I need to feel you around me. I need to be inside you!"



Carabella Ch. 05



He leaned over her, kissing her mouth hungrily, tasting her, letting her taste him. The kisses were furiously passionate, and he made no attempt to hide the aching need he felt, the raging hunger that was sweeping through him making him shake with his effort to control his lust. He could feel her trembling beneath his hands, and it thrilled him to his core. He wanted her out of control, wanted her as slavishly enthralled as he was.

He trailed a hand down her belly, loving the mound of it, the roundness and soft pleasure of its silkiness against his fingers. He loved the feel of her pubic hair against his palm, and he bit her nipple in delight, soothing the hurt at once with a slow lick, before tugging it into his mouth to suckle. She groaned, and he treated her other nipple to the same deadly assault, all the while spreading her legs with his hand. When she opened for him, he swiped hungry knuckles over her wet slit, over her rigid bud, and she gasped in reaction.

When the tip of his shaft touched her wet slit, he groaned, fighting to stop the shaking that was taking him over, fighting for control. He pushed in slowly. She wasn't a virgin, but the pleasure he felt as he pushed into her snug depths had him holding his breath to stop himself from coming just from the close fit. And as he slipped in, he felt her sucking him in greedily, her muscles grasping him, pulling him in, swallowing him.

"Ah, God, Bella, you're killing me!" he groaned.

He gritted his teeth, and noted the smug smile on her face at his words.

"Witch!" he groused heatedly, and bent to punish her with a searing kiss meant to steal her breath and her heart.

"You wouldn't let me hold you!" she huffed desperately, her breath coming in gasps as he pulled out, and pushed in slowly again.

He pulled out again, savoring the feel of her cream against his heated shaft, growling with intense pleasure as she sucked him back in, deep, delicious sucks of her pussy walls against his cock. He wanted to curse with the sweetness that he felt, and the urge to thrust in hard and fast, to take her without restraints, to fuck her silly, overwhelmed his control. He barely held himself from ramming into her.

"Stop teasing me, Rick!" she moaned at him, biting the nipple that was closest to her mouth, then licking it in heated desire.

Rick exploded, unable to keep his hips still a second longer. He plunged into her hot sex, ramming her to her core, over and over, in and out, hard, fast, hungry thrusts, dragging her up with him as he broke into blinding sunlight and shot his load. He was helpless in the face of his orgasm, the force of it battering at him, making him shake and growl like an animal. When he finally stopped, his lust spent, his loins at last sated, he collapsed on top of her, barely managing to hold himself off her enough to stop from suffocating her.

Cara felt herself coming as Rick did, the depths of her womb contracting in sweet joy at the feel of him, all that glorious, wonderful length and breadth of him, pumping and exploding inside her. The orgasm blew her away, and brought tears to her eyes. She was not the kind of person to sleep with just any man. There had to be an emotional connection. It seemed she had a deeper connection to Rick that she was prepared to admit, as nothing in her experience had prepared her for the complete loss of herself and her inhibitions that this first time with Rick had brought.

She felt him move, felt him pull her to him, felt his heartbeat against her back, felt herself lost in him. And the fear overwhelmed her.

"You're getting awfully comfortable, Professor!" she said shakily, knowing she was breaking the mood, needing to bring him back, so she could find herself again.

His arm tightened over her belly, and he pulled her closer. "I have time, and I want to savor you. Will that be a problem?"

Cara heard the words, and the tension behind them. She was walking a very thin line. She had just had the best sex of her life with a man she feared she was in love with, and she didn't know what to do about it. A woman of her age didn't just have an affair with her professor. And she harbored no illusions that Rick really wanted any more from her than an affair. He would see sense eventually, and realize that she was completely unsuitable for him.

"No, no problem! I just don't want to be the reason you're late, that's all!"

His mouth on her neck melted her, against her will. She felt his tongue leaving a trail of fire down her arm, before he turned her over so he could suckle her breasts again, making her lust rise again, and her need for distance pale into insignificance.

"Rick, please!" she moaned, when his tongue began a wicked circling of her left nipple.

"What can I do for you, sweetheart?" Another wicked lick across her right nipple. "I'll please you however you like!" His voice was hoarse, a testament to his own arousal.

"I..." Cara couldn't form a coherent thought as Rick systematically destroyed her presence of mind. By the time his once again raging erection was seated to the hilt inside her, she was practically insensible with need. He didn't spend any time torturing her this time, but took her quick and hard, riding her to a shattering climax, shouting as he himself came apart inside her.

Cara's breathing was as labored as his, her heart racing as hard, when he pulled himself off her, sitting up slowly. He dragged a shaking hand over his face, and turned to her.

"Stay here, Bella! I'll be right back!"

She lay still, pulling the edges of the bed covers over her, and listened to water running in the bathroom. When he stepped back into the room, he held a washrag in his hands. Cara felt her face flaming, knowing what he intended, and feeling herself fall further, deeper, harder. She watched him walk over to her, gloriously naked and unashamed, and watched as he tenderly cleaned her and put her underwear back on.

"Time for us to go, baby!" he said as he dressed himself, watching her put her own clothes back on and push her fingers through her hair. "Need a brush? Use mine! It's in the bathroom!" When she hesitated, he added, a quirk to his lips, "I swear I don't have cooties!"

Cara felt her smile turn to a chuckle, and she let it out as she walked into his well-appointed bathroom. Snagging the brush, she brushed her hair slowly, not wanting to leave, and yet knowing she would be afraid to stay.

"Ready?"

His voice interrupted her musings. "Yes, sorry!"

He came to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her gently. "I can hear the wheels turning, baby!" He bent to press a soft kiss to the side of her neck. "Just let it go, okay? We'll talk about it tomorrow."

She turned away from the mirror wordlessly, and let him lead her back out to the car. As he helped her into the car, he whispered against her ear,

"And I promise I won't rush you tomorrow, either. We'll take our own sweet time, baby!"

He kissed her mouth gently, too, and let her sit. Closing her into the car, he went around and got in. The ride back to the university was quiet, as though he was getting himself prepared for his class. Cara stayed quiet, too, unwilling to distract him. It was giving her time to think, for which she was grateful. Her body still tingled from the pleasant lethargy stealing over her. How she would make it through her evening with the girls she had no idea, because all she could think about was the way Rick made her mindless, and of how much she wanted to feel that again.

"We're here," his voice interrupted her thoughts. "I'll barely make it to class," he added, his eyes on her mouth, "and God alone knows how I'll pull it off today!" He bent his head and bussed her lips lightly, and then ended, "Call me before you go to the girls, okay? I need to hear you, since I won't see you!"

Cara swallowed before replying, and smiled at him. "I'm leaving at six. Shall I call your office?"

"Call my cell phone!" When she raised surprised eyes to his face, he added, "The things I want to say to you cannot have any chance to be heard by listening ears on university phones!"

Cara's eyes widened. "Do you really think they tap your phones?" She was horrified.

"I don't know, but I won't take that chance! Not with this!" He reached a hand over to touch her face, cradling her cheek tenderly. "Not with you!"

He turned away to remove one of his business cards from his wallet. "Call me, okay?"

"Yes," she whispered, "I'll call you!"

The rest of the afternoon was a blur for her. By the time she got home, it was five, and she was exhausted, emotionally and physically. And she wanted Rick with an intensity that astounded her. She packed the picnic basket with her contributions to the potluck, and went to shower. She could feel his hands and his mouth on her as the warm water cascaded down her sensitive skin, and as she washed herself, passing the washrag between over the lips of her sex, she moaned in heated passion, wishing she was showering with him.

The phone ringing startled her, and she let it ring. Whoever it was could wait. When it rang again, she stumbled out of the shower and ran to get it, dripping water everywhere, a towel barely covering her.

"Hello?" She was breathless, from passion and running.

"I'm outside, baby!" Rick said. "May I come in?"

"Rick, I'll be late!" she protested, shivering, though not with cold.

"Come open the door, Bella, please?"

Was it her imagination or did his voice get darker? She shivered again.

"I...I'm not dressed!" That was the wrong thing to say, and his next words confirmed it.

"All the better! Open the door, Bella! Please!"

His voice was hoarse now, as well as dark and sexy. Cara felt herself creaming, and he wasn't even in the room with her. Her breath quickened, her heart rate increased, and she tried to fight the call of her flesh.

"This isn't a good idea, Rick!" she said, backing away to her bedroom, as though he were already in the room and stalking her.

"Do you think it's a better idea for me to wait till you come out, and take you then, out here?" His voice held a dark threat, sensual, determined, desperate. "Open the door, please, baby! Don't make me wait any longer!"

Cara hurried to open the door, and when she saw the look on Rick's face, she backed away. His eyes were dark and yet they glowed with a fire of lust so hot, she felt scorched under his gaze. She turned and walked away to her bedroom, leaving him to close the door. She needed to dress, or at least to get something more than a wet towel on her before she could face the look in his eyes. She made it to the door, before he was there, his hands on her shoulders, turning her, pulling her to his chest, and kissing her silly.

"I couldn't wait till tomorrow, and I wanted to do more than hear your voice!" His voice was dark, sinfully thrilling, making her sex tingle with need. "I couldn't get the sound of you coming out of my mind. I can still taste you, baby!"

He kissed her again, slow, hot, wet, deep kisses, hungry kisses that ate away at her, that raised the heat of her passion, that had her opening herself to him, raising her leg so she could rub herself against him, now herself hungry to feel him and have him. He pressed against her, his heart hammering against her hands, his erection pushing up against her naked pussy, setting her on fire.

"Jesus, baby!" His exclamation came between heated kisses, as he slid a hand down her belly to her sex, and thrust inside that aching depth. "You're so wet for me!"

"I'm going to be late if I don't leave in the next ten minutes, Rick!" she whispered breathlessly, not caring in the least if she never had another girls night out, as long as Rick could make her feel like she was just then.

"I'll take you, after we love each other one more time, baby!" He kissed her neck, still thrusting hard and deep inside her. "I wanna be where my happy finger is right now!"

He thrust in again, fondling that special spot inside as he withdrew that made Cara cry out, her orgasm a breath away. If he would just touch her there one more...TIME!! Oh God! Cara came, hard, jerking in his arms her uplifted leg, collapsing against him, her breath lost, her skin on fire. She felt him move her, but she had no will to do more than let him lay her on the bed, and watch him shuck his clothing, throwing them wherever, in total disregard for where they landed, and coming over her, palming his cock in trembling hands.

"Take me, baby! Take all of me!"

His voice shook as he pushed inside her, and Cara opened herself to him, feeling him caress that sensitive spot that had had her crashing only a few moments before. He thrust in hard and deep, as his finger had a moment before, and withdrew slowly, before thrusting in again, harder than before. Over and over, the depth of his plunging touching her womb, caressing her G-spot, as he took her over and over, harder and higher until neither of them could stave off the crash. He roared as his cum boiled up from his tight sacs, his hips pistoning in and out of her convulsing channel, feeling her orgasm surging around him as she contracted on his cock.

Rick was helpless to stop himself from taking her hard, harder than he had ever taken any other women of his acquaintance. She called out all the hidden animalistic tendencies that he had submerged, and she was threatening to make him lose the control he had over the dominant side of his nature. He knew, in his heart, that she was not ever going to submit to him in any way if she knew what he was, but he was willing to curb that side of himself, if only to keep her in his bed...hell, to keep her in his life. She made him think differently about everything he thought he had decided on. She was the woman he used to dream about, as a raw teenager, the woman who would fill the hole in his chest that not even his writing ever filled.

He pulled her into his side, and felt her breathing slow, felt her heart rate calm, felt her relax against him. He couldn't understand his reaction to her, couldn't explain why suddenly, as her bottom moved against him, he felt himself lengthening again behind her. What the hell was wrong with him? He had never had so many orgasms with the same woman on one day. Heck, truth be told, he thought, as he rubbed her arm tenderly, the few women he had had were more interested in his reputation than in him. They didn't mind a roll in the hay, as long as they could be seen with him.

He felt her breathing slow, and knew she'd be asleep in a minute if he didn't rouse her. And though he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep with her in his arms, he didn't want her to miss her evening with her friends. He'd rather she be late...at least she'd have a good reason, this time. He grinned at the thought as he blew in her ear to wake her.

"No falling asleep, sweetie! Time to get ready for the girls!" He made his voice low, seductive, so she would think of him as she had fun with her friends.

Cara stirred and looked up into Rick's brown eyes. They were rich chocolate, and she could easily drown herself in them. She saw the smile in them, the banked fires of desire...for her. She smiled back, bemused and warm with her own overwhelming feelings for him.

"I know," she answered him, and stirred against him, moving reluctantly away from the warm hardness of his body. "I'll have to call them to tell them I'll be late," she added as she rummaged around for underwear before going back into the bathroom.

As if on cue, her phone rang. Rick was closest to it, so he picked it up and answered without thinking.

"Bella's phone! Good evening!"

There was a small shocked silence on the other end of the line, and then a very restrained female voice said,

"May I speak with her, please?"

"Surely!" he answered, a grin splitting his face as Cara grabbed the phone from him and glared at him. "Hi Jody! Yes, a friend! Well..."

Her voice faded as she went back into the bathroom, and Rick rose to get his own clothes, now wrinkled, off the floor. He could just imagine her trying to explain him to her friends, and he could see the color creeping up her cheeks as she did, knowing what they had just done for the third time that day, in her bed. For some reason, he felt ridiculously happy, and unable to sober up. He stopped trying to wipe the smile from his face, and straightened the bedclothes before going back into her living room to wait for Cara to emerge from the bathroom. He took in the picnic basket, and wished again that she could stay with him.

An idea formed as he waited, and he pulled his cell phone out to make a call. He was just finishing it when he saw her come through to the kitchen, a soft swag slung over her shoulder, matching the tiny chocolate-colored leather skirt she wore. The top was tiny, too, and her breasts fairly popped out at him, making his mouth water, and his rod harden. She's killing me, he thought as she approached to collect the basket. I won't survive this evening!

"You're beautiful, Miss Thang!" he said out loud, knowing he looked as pole-axed as he felt.

"Thank you, Rick!" she answered shyly. "We usually vamp it up a bit when we hang out together, because sometimes we go clubbing after dinner..."

The look on his face stopped her in mid-sentence. "What? What's wrong?"

Rick swallowed, trying to control the words on the tip of his tongue. Clubbing? In THAT get-up? No fucking way! "I'm just...surprised that you would go out like that!" he said lamely, knowing any way he said it would be offensive.

"Like what?" she asked, an edge to her voice, one brow quirked in question. "I thought you said I looked fine!"

"I said you're beautiful, actually," he corrected her, "but that's also true when you're naked, baby!"

She was not moved by his feeble attempt to save himself. "It's okay for me to look like a student, or a midlifer, but not like a woman, right? It's okay as long as my sexuality is hidden?"

She was angry, and Rick didn't know how to defuse the heated fury he saw mounting in her eyes. He had no experience with older women, and certainly not with any woman whom he was interested in keeping. He stayed where he was, even though he wanted to tear the outfit from her and make wild monkey love to her right there in her kitchen.

"I'm sorry, Bella! I don't mean to upset you, baby! I'm just surprised." He paused, not sure he should admit the rest, and then he saw her face -- the hurt and the confusion -- and he gave up any pretense he had been harboring that he was in control of what was happening with her. "To be frank, I hate the thought of you going clubbing in an outfit like that, where any other man than me will see you, and want you, and maybe touch you."

He moved then, walking over to where she stood, and taking her hand in his. "I want to be the only man you look like that for!"

He felt the tremor in the hand he held, and hazarded another look into her eyes. The sheen of tears threw him for a loop, and he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, baby!"

Cara shook her head vigorously, unable to speak, but wanting him to know he had manage to defuse her anger with his last words. She swallowed the tears she knew he had seen, and reached up to kiss the corner of his mouth.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," she promised, smiling. "But right now, you have to let me go, Rick! I need to leave, if we're to have dinner before eight!"

"Baby, I don't want to let you go. Le me take you? Please? I'll find something to do till you call me to come get you!"

Rick knew he was begging, but he didn't care. Something huge was happening, and he wasn't about to let it pass. He held her still, and made her hold his gaze till she nodded. The relief that swamped him almost made him lose his grip on her. He puffed out the breath he had been holding and picked up the basket, after planting a kiss on her mouth.




Carabella Ch. 05



"I have a GPS navigator. Just give put in the address, okay?" He straightened from seeing her into her seat, and walked around to get in beside her. Maybe he would get to stay with her all weekend. He could only hope. He forced himself to concentrate on the directions and made sure not to speed. She got to her friend's house a half hour late, and as he carried the basket to the front door for her, he hoped and prayed he would become part of this Friday night ritual from now on.

The door opened on her second ring, and a vivacious little woman smiled a greeting at them. She eyes Rick speculatively, and as Cara took the basket form him, she stared at him as though assessing his worth. He leaned forward, and planted a tender kiss on Bella's lips, ignoring her friend, and said,

"Call me when you're ready, okay?"

Cara nodded, and smiled at him, before disappearing inside, leaving Rick to hope the things said about him would not make her retreat again, because he wasn't sure how he would handle that.



Carabella Ch. 06



Cara let herself be kissed and hugged by her friends before walking into the kitchen to put her basket of goodies down on the wide center aisle counter. She inhaled deeply, expecting a barrage of questions, and trying to think of honest if vague answers to them. She wasn't ready to share Rick with anyone, not until she had sorted out in her own mind what was happening between them. She could still feel his hands on her, his mouth, his breath, his heartbeat beneath her hands.

"Well?" Jody's voice broke into her musings as she took the casserole dish out and went to turn on the oven. "You have nothing to tell us?" 

"Like what?" Cara hedged, turning the oven on to 350 degrees. 

Jody chuckled knowingly. "Like who he is, where you met him, and what he was doing at your place this evening."

The other women had walked in by then -- Jenna was setting the table for five, Max was unloading her baked goodies, and Shae had the salad out of the fridge and was plating it.

"I'm kinda interested in that kiss at the door, myself," Shae announced, a teasing grin on her face. "He sure seemed to be into you. And not shy about showing it, either!"

"Is it me, or is he a sweet young thing?" Jenna asked into the amused silence that greeted Shae's comment.

All the women burst out laughing at that, and Cara felt her cheeks warm with color. She had known she would be teased mercilessly about him, and she tried not to mind too much. He WAS much younger than she was, but he didn't seem at all concerned by that fact.

"He likes cougars!" Shae opined with an amused chuckle, causing Cara's cheeks to burn with a combination of embarrassment and amusement.

"Then he's looking at the wrong person," she finally managed to say, "since I'm a lamb to the slaughter!"

"And he's the lion rearing to eat you up, eh?" Jenna winked at her, and they all laughed again.

"Still no answer as to who he is and what he was doing at your place today," Jody commented. "Dinner's almost ready, so we have time before we eat." She looked innocently at her friend before continuing slyly, "You know, in case we choke over the details!"

Her friends' snickers warmed Cara's heart, even as she wondered how she was going to handle the question. She supposed it was a legitimate question, as in all the time since David's departure, they had not even heard her speak about a man, let alone have one in her house. And Rick had kissed her in front of them, seeming to care not a whit about what they thought of his actions.

"He's my creative writing professor," she began, "and my..."

"Toy boy?" Max asked on a laugh.

Cara rolled her eyes. "Hardly!" she answered. "He's my dissertation director!"

"So you're telling us you've got a relationship going on with your college professor?" Jenna seemed incredulous, and for some reason, that stung.

"We're both adults," Cara replied with more asperity than she had meant to let into her tone. "I'm not robbing the cradle you know! And HE was the one who initiated the action, not me!" She hated that her words sounded defensive, but she couldn't take them back.

"Action?" Jody pounced on the word, and Cara's cheeks reddened again instantly. When she didn't answer, all four women turned to stare at her, and Jenna voiced all their thoughts in her next words. "What kind of 'action' are we talking about, then, eh?" She walked over to Cara and led her to the table, pressing her into a chair, while she and the others stood around her, inquisitive expressions on their faces.

"You guys are like predators, you know that?" she said, defying their interest.

"You know you're going to tell us, Cara, so you might as well stop delaying and spill the beans!" Jenna dismissed the insult and added, "Now talk!" 

"Talk about what?" Cara asked stubbornly.

"She needs it spelled out for her, Jen," Max said derisively. "We wanna know if you've slept with him, rolled in the hay, made the beast with two backs!"

Cara's silence was as deafening a yes as if she has shouted it from the rooftop. Her friends continued to stare at her in shocked silence for a long minute, and then they all started speaking at once.

"Damn, girl, but you sure can pick them!" Max said, obviously referring to Rick's stellar good looks.

"You got that right!" Shae agreed. "How did you manage to net HIM?"

"You make it sound like I don't have what it takes to make a man like him interested in me!" Cara protested, stung anew by the questions. She realized she was still raw from the emotions Rick stirred up in her, and that probably explained why she was feeling so sensitive to their teasing and probing. Yet she still felt like she needed to add, "I'll have you know his family have a history of older women marrying younger men, and he seems to find me quite fetching!"

Jody put an arm around her, and she missed the look her closest friend gave the others. "Trust me, Cara, we ALL know exactly how "fetching" you are!" She squeezed Cara's shoulders and then declared that dinnertime had come.

Cara was grateful for the support. She hated feeling so vulnerable, especially among these women, who all were highly sexual and unafraid to share it but who didn't seem to have the need for the fairy tale that she did. She still often wondered how she came to be friends with someone like Maxine, who had a "love 'em and leave 'em" attitude towards the men who paraded through her life, and her bedroom. She was a tough as nails, and yet possessed a beauty of spirit that drew Cara to her. And tough as she was, hers would be the first eyes to fill with tears.

She thought about the other three as they dished up food and then served themselves. She was grateful for the ritual of silence that began their shared meals together, as this time, she could use it to think about how she came to be part of the group. Jody had been her best friend all her life it seemed, their bond sisterly. Jenna, Sharon, and Maxine had been college roommates, and when they all ended up within fifty miles of each other after graduation, and found each other at a convention, the friendship was sealed.

Jenna and Sharon were married to each other's brothers, which was a constant source of amusement to the group. Maxine was determinedly, almost recklessly, single, and Jody was about to say yes to the man who had been hotly pursuing her for five years. Only Cara was left without any apparent rudder in the relationship seas -- until now. Rick had changed her worldview overnight, and she doubted she would ever be the same again. She didn't know what would happen, and it worried her...

"Earth to Cara!" Jody's voice broke into her musings. "Let's say grace and eat, please, so we can finish this conversation!"

It always amused Cara that Jody insisted on praying over their shared meal, and she was usually ribbed by the others mercilessly. But not today. After the few murmured words of thanks for the food, everyone turned their attention back to her. She sighed inwardly, and prepared herself for their questions.

"So how do you feel about him, Cara?"

"Wait!" Before Cara could answer Jody's question, Max asked, "What's his name?"

"Rick," Cara said. "Professor H. Erick Montienna."

"Italian, is he?" Shae asked, sipping her wine.

"I don't know, actually. We haven't gotten around to...well, to a lot of stuff!" Cara lowered her eyes to her plate, and stabbed some green leaves, prepared to stuff her mouth to stop herself from giving away more information she had meant to keep to herself.

"So answer me, Cara. How do you feel about him?" Jody repeated her question, her eyes boring into Cara. "I'm assuming you wouldn't have hit the sack with this guy if you didn't feel something!"

Cara thought for a minute, chewing slowly, and realized she was more than a little in love with her dishy professor. But she wasn't sure she should be telling anyone that, in case he didn't return her feelings. For all she knew, it might just be lust, and as soon as he tired of her body, he'd be on his way. She had to find out first...

"Cara, either you have feelings for this man or you don't, sweetie! And unless you're telling me you've joined Max, I cannot believe you'd sleep with a man you have no feelings for!"

Jody's reasonable and worried tone shook Cara out of her reverie.

"Of course, I have feelings for him, Jo! I just...well, it seems a bit soon to speak of them. What if he doesn't...?"

Shae broke in, wiping her mouth on a napkin. "What if he doesn't like you back? I'd say, based on that tender little scene at the door, you've got nothing to worry about there, sweetie!"

"That could just be lust, Shae!" Cara protested. "And anyway, you all just want me to get a man!" She chuckled half-heartedly and put more food into her mouth.

"We're your friends! That's what friends do! We fret over you and tease you, but it's only because we love you!"

Cara smiled at them through sudden tears, which she swallowed with a large gulp of wine. "Thanks, you!"

By the time dinner was over, the dishes washed and put away, and Jody dressed, Cara knew she would call off her clubbing with them. She sighed inwardly. For all her talk of independence and liberation, she didn't want any man to see her looking like she did, as long as there was Rick to look like that for. She wanted to save the sexiness for him. She watched her friends gather their things and when Jody asked if they were ready for her to call the cab, Cara shook her head.

"I think I'd better call it a day, you guys! I'll call Rick to come get me, if you don't mind! It's been quite a day for me!"

She knew how it sounded, but she'd rather they think he had exhausted her in bed, than have them realize she was backsliding. Their knowing looks and teasing grins did not deter her as she called his number. She was relieved when he answered almost immediately, and promised to be there in ten minutes. While the others waited for the cab, which they had all agreed they should splurge on rather than drive impaired, she retrieved her casserole dish and sat with them, listening idly to them talk about where they wanted to go. The doorbell rang, and Jody went to get it. Rick stood there, a smile on his face that was only for Cara, who stood and hugged her friends before going to him, an answering smile on her face. She hid her nervousness, and when she passed by Jody, her friend said in a stage whisper,

"Have a nice night, girlfriend! Don't do anything I wouldn't!"

Rick chuckled, his eyes alight with desire and some other emotion, and Jody laughed in response.

"I promise to take good care of her!" he said, and saluted the girls before leading her back to his car.

Cara knew Jody stood at the door watching them, and when Rick leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips, she could almost see her friend's smile. She waved to her as they drove off, and said to Rick,

"Why did you do that?" She tried to sound indignant and failed miserably.

"Do what?" Rick asked, turning onto the main drag.

"Kiss me!" she answered.

Rick chuckled. "Better that than what I really wanted to do!" he said, and turned to look at her. He reached over and took her hand, pulling it onto his leg and cradling it there. "I missed you!" he continued, " and I wanted you to know I was glad to see you again!"

Cara's breath caught in her throat, and she had to struggle to draw air into her lungs.

"Did you all go clubbing already?" he wanted to know next. "I hadn't expected you to call me so soon!"

"The girls are just waiting for the cab. I..." Suddenly, she was tongue-tied.

"You what, Bella?" He squeezed her hand on his thigh in encouragement.

"I told them I was tired," she confessed, and prayed he wouldn't ask why. 

He didn't. He figured out her secret immediately, if the way he suddenly raised her hand to his lips and nipped her knuckles before kissing them was any indication. Cara inhaled deeply, and her heart melted a little more when he said,

"Thanks, baby!" His voice, husky with emotion, washed over her, raising her heart rate when he added, "Maybe we can find a way to reward you for dressing up so nicely tonight, eh?" 

He licked her knuckles, and then lowered her hand to his thigh again, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. The gesture was very sexual and more erotic than Cara had thought such a gesture could be. She stole a glance at his face, and admired again the high, hard cheekbones and full lips. Pausing at his lips, she let herself recall the feel of them against her own, and of his tongue, and his...

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, breaking into her erotic thoughts. She looked straight ahead as she answered "Nothing, really!" but wasn't surprised when he chuckled softly and squeezed her hand again.

"Liar! We're going to have to work on that, you know. I don't want you lying to me and hiding your feelings from me. Ever!"

"What makes you think I was lying?" she asked, fighting to keep the amusement from her voice.

"I saw you staring at me, and I felt you go still." When she quieted under his hand again, he said "Just like that!" When she made no reply immediately, he teased her, "What? Cat got your tongue?"

Cara smiled, and tried to pull her hand away. When he refused to let her go, she chuckled and said, "Okay, I WAS thinking about something!"

Rick raised her hand to his lips again, before asking, "What's the 'something', then?" 

"I'll tell you when we get home," she temporized. Secretly wishing he would forget, but hoping he wouldn't, and confused by her opposing desires, she hoped he would give her a reprieve, so that she could collect her thoughts. He didn't push her, and she settled back against the seat, letting her hand relax in his, closing her eyes to savor the sweet feelings that were beginning to crowd in on her.

"Bella, I want to ask you something."

Rick's voice brought her out of her daze, and she turned her head on the back of the seat to look at him. He sounded serious, and she felt her heart clutch in fear. 

"What?" She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Will you spend the weekend with me?" He paused, as though he wanted the question to percolate in her brain for a few seconds before adding to it. "I know it's only been a couple of days, and I know you have reservations about starting something with me, but I told you how it's been with me for the last three months. I think about you as much as I do about work, and if this afternoon is anything to go by, that will soon change."

He negotiated a turn, and she realized he was driving away from her home.

"Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously, hoping he wasn't taking her acquiescence for granted. 

"My little brother has a little place on the beach. The food is excellent, the ambiance is intimate and classy, and the price is reasonable. I ordered a bottle of wine and some finger food for a picnic on the beach." He turned to look at her, and squeezed the hand he still held on his thigh. "I hope you don't mind?"

He made it a question, and Bella could hear the uncertainty in his voice. She smiled, amused that such a big guy could sound so unsure of himself, and pleased that he had been thinking about her enough to plan a romantic after-dinner treat.

"I don't mind," she answered, letting her smile sound in her voice. "As long as it's not a bribe!"

He laughed at that. "Now why would I need to bribe you, miss?"

"So I will say yes to your weekend request," she returned immediately.

"I would never bribe you, baby! I'm better than that!" His chuckle rolled around her in the car.

"Really?" she asked, amused at his returning confidence. "How were you planning to get me to agree, then?"

He raised her hand to his lips, and licked her knuckles lazily, like a large cat anticipating his meal. "Ever heard of seduction?" he asked, suddenly hoarse, his mouth lingering on the knuckles he kissed.

Cara's breath caught in her throat as she was transported immediately back to their lovemaking, to his hands and his mouth, right back to what she had been thinking about before.

"What?" His voice called her back again, and she knew he was asking the same question he had asked before. This time, she told him.

"I was just remembering..." She blushed, glad of the dark interior of the car that hid her flaming cheeks.

He turned her hand over and kissed her palm, letting his tongue touch her in the center of it, before breathing on the wet spot and closing her fingers over it.

"Good!"

He kept his eyes on the road after that smug comment, but Rick could almost feel the anticipation in her studiedly relaxed pose. She was wired, just as he was, and doing her best to hide it. He hoped she would say yes to his weekend plan, but he knew better than to assume she would. And he knew he didn't want her to become a good little uncomplicated yes woman. He liked her feisty and confrontational. He needed her to keep him in check, to remind him of what was most important, to ground him when his need for her might make him fly off half cocked. He smiled at that thought -- he was already more than "half cocked" as it was. A chuckle escaped him, and he knew she would ask why, so he said, when she did,

"Just thinking about me flying off half cocked!" 

He waited for her to get it, and was rewarded almost immediately by a gurgle of laughter. He joined her, and felt her squeeze his hand. He squeezed back, aware that she was vulnerable to him now, and knowing he needed to handle her with care. But the closer they got to the beach, the harder he got, and nothing he did, not even letting go of her hand, on the pretext of searching for a CD to put in the player, made any difference. He was hot, and he needed her.

His brother Marc was waiting for them when he finally parked close to the back of the little eatery. Rick could see the speculative looks his brother cast over Cara's face, trying to decide on her age and her potential as a mate. Rick knew his brother. That was his MO, especially after he met his own love, who was even now coming through the door at the side with a blanket and pillows.

He reached over to kiss his sister, making sure to keep his body from contact with hers, and then straightened to make the introductions, glad of the semi-darkness to hide his raging hard-on.

"Marc, Penny, meet Carabella. Bella, my brother and sister."

He waited impatiently till they had all shaken hands, and then took the basket from Marc and shepherded Bella towards the spot he used to go when he wanted to be get away from the rest of his boisterous family. Bella spread the blanket, and he helped her settle herself on it, before he opened the basket and took out the bottle of wine. Pouring for them both he rested the bottle on the ice in the bucket and turned to her.

"I've wanted to take you out on a date for so long, and dreamed of how it would be. And now, at last, I can fulfill some small part of my wish. Here's to dreams, and to you!"

He leaned over and kissed her mouth, and then tipped his glass to hers. "Ciao!"

He watched her sip the wine and lick her lips, and his cock jerked in his slacks. He hadn't made love to her in a few hours, but it felt like years, and even if she chose to go back to her own home after their picnic, he had to take her again. He watched her hungrily, knowing he was making her uncomfortable, and not caring too much, because he knew she wanted him too, even if she was fighting it. Yielding to a sudden desire, he relieved her of her glass, placed his next to hers on the flat rock where the basket sat, and lay with his head in her lap.

"You're in a mood tonight aren't you?" she asked, seemingly unaware that she was threading her fingers through his hair. The gentle caress was driving him wild, but he tried to keep control, if only for a while longer.





Carabella Ch. 06



"You're beautiful from any angle, do you know that?" he asked, reaching up to pull her down to his mouth so he could kiss her.

"So tell me, Rick, why should I choose to spend my weekend with you?" 

He could hear her reaching for her own control, and trying to use talk to keep it. He smiled. She would not escape him with small talk, not tonight. He sat up and pulled her across his lap, stroking his tongue into her mouth before she could object, kissing her deeply, showing her without words how much he wanted her.

"Have you ever made love on a beach, baby?" he asked, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth. 

Cara trembled as he kissed her, knowing what was going to happen, knowing she was not going to stop it, knowing she needed this.

"No," she whispered. "Have you?"

He chuckled. "No, I haven't. You'll be my first!" She tensed, and he smiled. "If you like, you can be my only one!" He kissed her again, pushing her to her back on the blanket and sliding his hands over her breasts in the tiny top, as he stroked her neck and throat and ears with his hungry tongue.

"You're pretty certain of the outcome, aren't you, big boy?" She was breathless, and Rick loved it. "And pretty eager, too, eh?"

He kissed her left breast, just at the top, sucking the flesh gently between his teeth. "Eager? Was there something else you wanted to do first?" His own breathing was getting choppier as well, especially when she reached down and began to stroke him through his slacks.

"Maybe a few more sips of my wine. A snack...I thought I saw cheese and crackers in the basket."

She was breathing hard and fast now, because he had insinuated a hand under her little leather skirt and was caressing her thigh, sliding it up to that place where her panties were already wet for him. He caressed her through the wet cloth, and kissed her again, deep, slow, hard, reining in the lust that rode him hard. He wanted to pleasure her, and he would, many times, before he let himself get his own. 

"You're hungry?" he asked, feigning an amusement he didn't truly feel. "I just got you back from dinner with the girls!" 

He slid a finger under the leg of the wet strip of cloth and felt the cream that was pooling in her sweet center. He groaned, and heard her corresponding moan as he slid his finger inside, just enough to stroke her g-spot. 

"Rick!" she groaned his name. "Please!"

"Feel good, baby?" he wondered, sounding much calmer than he felt.

"Oh God, yes!" She rolled her hips, trying to accommodate him, to get him to stroke it harder, feeling the orgasm he was holding just out of her reach.

He stroked her harder, kissing her ravenously and eating her cries of pleasure as he brought her to her first orgasm. The satisfaction he felt when she broke apart beneath him was immense. He didn't wait for her to come down off that high before he was sending her back up again, this time stroking her clit. She whimpered in need, and Rick gave her the touches she needed.

Suddenly, he needed to taste her. He crawled down her body, still fully clothed, and impatiently ripped the strip of cloth that covered her away from her soaking pussy so he could taste her. He grunted at the sweetness on his tongue, and raised her hips in his hands so he could fuck her with his tongue. She writhed beneath his mouth, calling his name and pulling him into her, begging him not to stop. He hungered for her, and he ravished her with his tongue and teeth and lips, licking and sucking her until, his tongue inside her, she came again, falling apart and jerking in his hands, crying out his name.

He soothed her with calming licks to her slit, smoothing his hands over her belly till she calmed. Then he raised her up and kissed her slack mouth, eating at her with deep need. She opened her eyes, and he saw a swirl of emotions in them that choked him up. 

"You're overdressed, baby," he said, not willing to deal with emotions now, when he wanted her body with such overwhelming lust. He couldn't process his own emotions, only knowing that she was his, and he was never letting her go. He removed her clothing without really knowing what he did, and only when she was naked before him did he focus on her face again, watching her try to hide the depth of her own feelings. He would not let her hide from him, not ever again. He leaned over her and kissed her softly, light, full-mouthed kisses over her face, neck, shoulders, breasts, wanting her to be desperate for him again.

"You like to tease, don't you, Rick?" he heard her ask, before she surprised him by sliding beneath his hands and reaching for his cock, which she released from the constraints of his slacks and boxers. Remembering how he had denied her earlier, he determined to hold his control and let her have her pleasure. So he gritted his teeth, then, as she trailed her fingers up and down his stiff cock, and when she licked the head, he jerked as if she had shocked him. She laughed, and he felt emotion well up inside him. She was killing him, and he wanted her to love every second of her play with him. 

"You taste good, Professor!" she said wickedly, a long lick up from his balls punctuating the words. "Real good!" 

She moaned softly and took him into the warm cavern of her mouth. Rick tried to hold in his groan and failed. The feel of her silken mouth around him was so good that he closed his eyes and let himself feel, hanging on to his control by a thread as she took him all the way in, down to his balls. Oh God, he had never been deep-throated before, and he could feel the muscles in the back of her throat before she let him go, sucking on the head as she released him with a pop.

"Baby, enough!" he begged her, pulling her up to kiss her. "Help me undress!"

Their fingers fumbled together and before long he was lying on his back and pulling her over to straddle him. She leaned in for a kiss, and he took her all the way in, sucking her tongue into his mouth then moving down to her breasts, which he suckled like a newborn as he slid his fingers down her belly to her clit. He circled her there, teasing her with strokes that never quite touched her where she needed it most, until she was crying out for him to end her sweet torture. He pushed his hard rod against her wet slit and finally rubbed her clit, pinching it and then rubbing it again, swallowing her shout as she came apart in his arms in a ravenous, demanding kiss. 

He held her for a moment, savoring the feel of her warm body against his own, and then he raised her hips, and slid into her, thrusting his hips up to seat himself fully inside her. Her breath was coming in short gasps again, and he fucked her hard, his cock heating the walls of her pussy, the feel of her around him driving him insane with the need to bring them both to completion. He rolled to the side with her still wrapped in his arms, and kissed her as he fucked her, growling as he stroked into her harder and faster. Her mewls of pleasure wore down his control, and he rode her wildly.

"Bella, baby..." He couldn't finish the statement. There was just too much to say. He could wait till she was ready, till he was ready. For now, he rammed her, slapping her bottom and raising her leg so he could plunge in deeper. He squeezed her breasts, teasing the nipples as he fucked her, cupping and caressing them as he kissed her neck. He plunged in deeply, going harder and faster as the pleasure built between them. He wanted to touch the heart of her, hungry to have her completely, and when she came, gasping and crying out his name, her sweet, hot center contracting around him, he fell apart right behind her, pumping wildly into her, his buttocks bunching tightly as he fucked into her, kissing her breathlessly, hugging her to his heart...loving her.

He didn't let her go, but held her as they both came down together. Their breathing slowed, and Rick could feel the cooling breeze on the sweat between their heated bodies. She was trembling, and he was fighting not to tremble with her. He felt at peace for the first time in his life, and the woman whose body finally relaxed in his arms was the reason. If he didn't watch it, she would steal his heart completely. Maybe she already had.

"Wake up, baby! We can't stay here!" He kissed her mouth again helplessly and smiled when she struggled to open her eyes.

"Will you spend the weekend with me?" he asked slowly.

Rick watched the smile that she couldn't hide steal across her face. "Yes," she said, and kissed him again.