The Voyeur Next Door

by Airicka Phoenix

  “Why?”

  I inwardly grinned, having already expected that question. “It’s Tuesday. That means tofu night. Evil Spawn doesn’t like tofu night.”

  “Who does?” Q wondered contemplatively.

  “Last week, she threw apples,” I went on. “I think it’s good that she changes her fruit. It shows character.”

  Q laughed. “What are the parents doing?”

  I squinted at the glass. “The father is attempting to reason with her. The mother is yelling at the father and pointing at the daughter. I think she blames him for the child being such a little monster. Oh! Dad is moving to the phone.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Pizza,” I answered simply. “Evil Spawn has won. Crises has been averted for another day.”

  Q whistled softly through his teeth. “That was really close.”

  “Slutty Blonde, window two, second row, just got home,” I noticed. “She’s alone … oh, nope, never mind. Looks like Handsome Dark Haired Dude, window three, second row, has been relieved of his sex duties. Guess his extra-large cock wasn’t cutting it anymore.”

  “I really need to meet my neighbors,” Q stated with a mild hint of amazement. “It’s going to bug me now.”

  I chuckled. “Well, Slutty Blonde will definitely go for you.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “You have a cock and thus are her type.”

  He made a humming sound. “I’m not into blondes. I like brunettes.”

  “Are you saying that because I’m a brunette?” I teased.

  “Are you? I hadn’t noticed.” I heard something squeak in the background, the sound of disturbed leather and imagined him shifting on the sofa. “Tell me what you look like.”

  I had to think about it a moment. Of all the things in the world I hated, it was talking about myself, even something as simple was describing my features. So I stuck to the basics.

  “Brown hair, hazel eyes.”

  “And?” he prompted with a chuckle when I stopped.

  “Roughly five-five. What do you look like?” I evaded.

  “Black hair, gray eyes that sometimes look blue in certain lights. Six-nine and roughly two-thirty.”

  Wow, a big boy, was my initial thought, before it jumped to places I didn’t want to visit, like how Gabriel had black hair and gray eyes and roughly seven feet. It was ridiculous to think he was the only one with those measurements, but I couldn’t help stamping his face over the dark silhouette that had been Q. I immediately felt guilty, but not enough to erase the image.

  “It’s eight,” I stated, already turning away from the windows and venturing back into the seclusion of my apartment. I kept the windows open to let in the warm, evening air, but shut the drapes. “What are you doing?”

  I heard him grunt. “Sitting here thinking about you.”

  “What about me?”

  I stepped around the bed and started in surprise when my toe sent something rubbery rolling into the nightstand. My forgotten dildo glared up at me, outraged at being forgotten. I grimaced and scooped it up.

  “Just how much I want to watch you again.”

  My fingers tightened around the rubber cock. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” His low husky purr sent shivers scuttling down my spine. “But you still haven’t given me your answer if this is what you want.”

  I chuckled weakly and dropped the dildo back inside my drawer. “I thought I did.”

  “No.”

  My tongue moved nervously over my lips. “Yes,” I whispered. “I want this.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  His groan rumbled with satisfaction and my insides trembled. “Are your blinds open?”

  “No.”

  “Open them and the terrace doors.”

  I didn’t bother telling him those were already open. I shoved back the curtains and stared at the doors across from mine.

  “They’re open.”

  “Do you still have that bench at the foot of your bed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Drag it near the doors, but not too close.”

  I had to put the phone down as I followed his instructions. I pulled the bed bench near the patio doors, leaving it lengthwise rather than widthwise.

  “Done.”

  “Take off your robe.” The demand came out in a growl that tightened my nipples and sent a whip of fire lashing up the core of my body. My fingers trembled as I undid the sash. “Lie on the bench with your legs open towards me.”

  My heart rocketed in my chest, sounding impossibly loud as I did what he said. I straddled the bench and reclined. I scooped my hair up and let it cascade over the end in a thick waterfall.

  “Done.” Even to my own ears, my voice sounded breathless and excited.

  “Stay reclined,” he said. “Keep your head back.”

  I was panting. I couldn’t help it. I stared at my ceiling while the muggy air whispered over the moist lips of my sex and tried not to think of anything except how much I wanted this. A small part of me kept assuring me that he was too far, and in my reclined position, he couldn’t possibly see all the flaws. Plus at that vantage point, all he could really see was my pussy.

  “Are you going to watch?” I asked the man on the other end of the phone.

  “Yes.”

  I barely staved back the quiver that lanced through me. In my ear, the quiet squeak of rusty hinges made me jump. I squeezed my eyes shut as my entire body stiffened. His husky groan snatched at my pussy, making it clench in anticipation.

  “Put me on speaker phone,” he ordered. “You are going to need both hands.”

  Sucking in a breath, I fumbled with the buttons until the right one was selected. Then I set the phone just above my head.

  With it gone, my hands felt infinitely empty and useless. I didn’t know what to do with them except set them on my shuddering abdomen.

  “Touch yourself,” he instructed.

  Having never done this for an audience, I was lost for a moment. I wasn’t sure where I should begin.

  I started by taking a breath and blocking out all other thoughts. The clamor of noise and voices in my head was tearing at my concentration. It didn’t help that there was someone seeing me naked for the first time since before I learned how to bathe myself. That alone had me tense and I was too scared to check and see if he was still there. He hadn’t spoken since his command and I couldn’t help wondering if maybe he’d taken one look and darted back inside.

  I suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable. It took all my resistance not to roll to my feet and lunge for cover. It also made me wonder just how good his eyesight was. Maybe he couldn’t see me very well. Maybe it was too dark.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I gave a start at the intrusion.

  “Nothing,” I lied. “I was just getting comfortable.”

  I took a deep breath, held it for two whole heartbeats before letting it out slowly and willing my hands to move.

  They went almost automatically to my breasts. The hard points skimmed beneath my palms. I felt the first crackle of heat slide up the length of my spine to pool at my center. My heart thundered against my ribcage, egging me on as I expertly played the tune of my own arousal across the planes of my excited body. My thighs parted of their own volition and I shifted my hips for something that wasn’t there. My thumbs ghosted over my nipples, teasing them just enough to make me ache for more. Something moist trickled down the crevice of my ass to soak into the cushions beneath me.

  “Do you know how frustrating it is to be this close and not be able to kneel between your legs?”

  I shut my eyes and let the deep rumble of his words wash over me in a hot wave.

  “To not spread your lips and lick your pussy clean?”

  A gasp escaped me at the same time as my hips gave an involuntary jerk, like his tongue really was just there, waiting to sweep over me. It was met with only air.

  “That’s how I would make y
ou come the first time,” he went on. “Then I’d make my way up your body and slide inside you slowly, inch by inch until I was so deep you wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

  I couldn’t take it anymore. My hand rushed down to my mound. My fingers parted the cleanly shaven lips to locate the thick pool in between.

  “Oh my God!” I gasped. “I’m so wet!”

  “How wet?”

  Two fingers effortlessly worked their way deep into the cavity of my body, all the way to the knuckles. The walls gripped the intruders with enthusiastic vigor and I swore loudly. My feet jerked off the floor and anchored on the edges of the bench by their heels. The knees dropped so I was lewdly sprawled and open for him. My free hand drifted off my breast to take up the phone. I held it down between my legs and hoped he could hear the wet, sucking sound my pussy was making with every thrust.

  “Christ…” I heard him groan. “Faster.”

  I didn’t argue. I worked the muscles with the pad of my fingers, dragging them along the walls, seeking that little bundle I could never seem to find. But my body didn’t care if I found my g-spot or not. It had spent a long day on the edge of desperation and it was wound too tightly to hold off much longer.

  “I’m coming!” I choked, hips lifting to meet every hungry slap of my palm. “God, I’m coming!”

  My eyes screwed shut as the pressure snapped like an over coiled elastic band. I felt the sharp sting trigger my clit and I fell with a deep sob of relief. A kaleidoscope of colors shimmered to life behind my closed eyelids, exploding in time with the roar in my ears. My climax continued to milk at my fingers with an excitement I hadn’t felt since watching Q the first night. I was vaguely aware of my companion’s grunt somewhere in the distances, but I couldn’t bring myself to focus, not even as the world slowly righted itself once more.

  “Aoife?”

  It took me a moment to remember that was me, but it took longer for me to shake away the fuzzy haze of exhaustion long enough to answer.

  “Hm?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Mm.”

  I heard him chuckle. “I’m going to head back inside, okay?”

  I didn’t answer. But I heard the squeak of his window hinges shutting. I continued to just lie there, eyes closed, legs sprawled apart, fingers still knuckle deep in my pussy. Honestly, I was content to stay there forever.

  “Are you falling asleep on me?”

  It took energy I didn’t possess to lift the phone off my pelvic bone all the way to my ear.

  “Possibly.” But I forced myself up. “Did you come?”

  “Yes, I did. Thank you.”

  I made a sound I hoped was satisfaction as I dumped myself down on the bed.

  “Me too.”

  He made a humming sound. “I heard.”

  “Was I too loud?” I wondered.

  “No, you were perfect. I liked hearing you.”

  I yawned.

  “You are falling asleep on me,” he teased.

  I chuckled. “I’m awake. Promise.” But I could feel myself drifting no matter how much I fought it. “Okay, maybe a little.”

  There was amusement in his tone when he spoke.

  “Go to bed. Call me tomorrow and have your laptop ready.”

  “My laptop?”

  “Mmhm. I want to do that again, but closer.”

  Chapter Eight

  Gabriel

  I woke up the next morning and for the first time in a long time, I felt … happy. I felt content. I felt like I had a reason to smile and it wasn’t because the day was bright and the sky was clear, or that the construction crew I’d been waiting to hear from for over a week finally got back to me via email regarding the upgrades I wanted to do to the garage.

  I got to work with an almost skip to my step. I wasn’t sure where my usual dark cloud had gone, but it could stay there. Lloyd glanced up from the wrench set he was cleaning with a shammy cloth.

  His brow lifted. “What’s her name?”

  I waved him off as I jogged my way up the steps to the office.

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Morning.”

  At the desk¸ Ali glanced up. One finger poked her glasses higher up on her face and she blinked at me from behind the lenses.

  “Morning,” she repeated with a wary sort of hesitance. “There were no calls today.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  I sprinted up the stairs to the loft. The early morning light cast a dim glow over the space. Speckles of dust scattered when I trudged through the beams of light to the dresser. I was yanking on my jumpsuit when Ali appeared at the top of the stairs.

  She looked different. I wasn’t sure what it was, because her hair was still in its habitual bun and her face was obscured behind her glasses, but something about her had my hands stalling on the zipper and my eyes narrowing.

  “Sorry,” she said quickly. “I just wanted to tell you that Earl invited me to family dinner this Sunday. I thought I would warn you in case you weren’t aware.”

  I yanked the zipper up all the way to my throat.

  “I know,” I told her. “Mom really wants to meet you.”

  “Why?”

  I prolonged having to answer by rolling the sleeves up on my suit.

  “She’s nosy,” I semi lied. “Plus we haven’t had a woman work here since…” I broke off, cleared my throat and tried again. “In a long time.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Oh.” She rubbed her hands anxiously at her midsection. “I guess that’s it then. I’ll let you get back to work.”

  “Ali?” Her name shot out of me before I could stop myself, or even think of a reason why I said it.

  “Yeah?”

  I had nothing. But I still didn’t want her to go. Not yet.

  “How’s Tammy’s costume coming along?”

  She shrugged. “Good. I talked to her last night on the phone about it. I think she said she needed it for this weekend, so…”

  I moved slowly towards her. I told myself it was because she was standing by the only exit, but I had no interest in the stairs.

  “She’s not giving you a hard time is she?”

  Ali shook her head. “No, what she wants done is actually pretty simple so…”

  “That’s not what I meant.” I stopped when there was a safe distance between us. “I know my sister. She’s spoiled and a brat. She can sometimes forget she’s not the queen of the universe.”

  Her laugh filled the silence and it struck me—not for the first time—I liked the sound of it.

  “She’s fine,” Ali assured me. “But thank you.”

  I drew in a breath and inhaled her delicious scent of … that was when it hit me. Her scent was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was sweeter, like an orchard in spring.

  “You smell nice.”

  I wasn’t sure which of us was more stunned by my verbal diarrhea. I did know that I was horrified by my inexplicable inability to keep my damn thoughts to myself. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her cheeks a soft, baby pink. “My sister gave it to me for my birthday a few years back.”

  “I like it.”

  Her head lifted and I had a distinct impression she was looking at me, but the fucking lenses kept reflecting light, keeping her eyes concealed. It took all of my restraint not to tear the damn things off her face.

  “Thank you.” She ran her hands down over her skirt, took a deep breath and edged back a step, then another. “I should get back to work.”

  I lunged for her when she took another step and met air. My hands closed around her arms before she could go tumbling backwards down the stairs and I jerked her back, back to me.

  She struck my chest and I kept her there with both arms around her middle. Her glasses slipped down the length of her nose on impact and caught on one ear. Thick, dark lashes swept up and I was captured in her wide, brilliant eyes.

  They were a splintered gold across a bed of moss gr
een, surrounded by an endless fan of lashes. The contour was wide, dominating against her otherwise delicate features. It amazed me that I had never noticed before.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, finding my voice.

  Ali nodded. Her hands were shaking when she shoved her glasses back into place.

  “Yes, thank you.” She wet her lips with the tip of her pink tongue. “I need to go.”

  I released her when she took a step back and I didn’t stop her when she turned and hurried downstairs. All I could think was that her eyes were hazel.

  The day was unnaturally slow. We had no business at all and I found I actually liked the lull. It gave my mind a chance to escape while I helped Lloyd scrub down the tools. Ali kept to the office. I wasn’t sure what she was doing up there, but I was relieved for that, too. The woman complicated too many things and I could never think straight when she was around. It didn’t help that she made me want things I had sworn I would never again allow myself. She brought out a side of me that I kept locked up and that made her the type of dangerous I needed to stay away from. The last woman I let myself fall for had destroyed any and all chances of me ever touching that life again. She tainted the thing I had once cherished. Those were now shoes I would never don again.

  But Ali made me want to. She made me miss a life I had spent the better part of five years burying deep into the ground, right alongside Regina. I couldn’t be that man anymore. I couldn’t let my own wants and desires destroy another person the way it had destroyed her. If I had stopped sooner, if I had been better, stronger, Regina might still have been alive. Instead, I had let my own arrogance blind me to the razor’s edge she was walking.

  Regina was dead because of me and I wouldn’t let that happen to Ali, or Aoife.

  “Gabe?”

  I blinked out of my spiraling depression and focused on Lloyd standing a few feet away. He jerked his chin over my shoulder and I turned just as a man stepped into the shop, darkened to a silhouette by the afternoon glare. I squinted and set down the cloth in my hand.

  “Can I help you?” I asked.

  The man stepped in deeper and any good mood I could possibly ever possess, evaporated.