Eleven-and-a-half: A Fantasy Of Great Length by Ray Wilder Chapter 43: Chris This is a work of fiction. All the characters, events and locations portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, events or locations is purely coincidental. Copyright © 1996. All rights, implicit or implied, except for distribution by this archive and personal use by the individual downloading the file, are reserved. Inquiries regarding publishing rights for this book should be directed to: raywild@aol.com ======================================== How many times had she cum in the last twenty-four hours? How many times had he cum in the last twenty-four hours? How much longer would he be able to keep it up (double entendre intended)? She actually began to dread the moment when he would announce enough was enough and he needed a break. She had grown so used to having that beautiful, thick, achingly long cock deep within her. The thought of not being able to wrap her heat, her sex, her being around it's length made her desperately anxious. This was not good. She rolled over to look at him, hoping he would be awake. She suddenly had a need to talk to him. Really talk. They had talked all night. Laughed, giggled, tickled, teased, wrestled, licked, kissed, coupled, and coupled, and coupled. But she needed to say some things to him. She was feeling the effects of being completely overwhelmed and wanted to re-establish some sort of identity. Was he awake? It didn't surprise her very much to see his eyes flicker open as she turned to him. He had been anticipating her needs and desires all night long. Had he felt her anxiety? Or had she just moved too much and awakened him? It didn't matter, He was there for her. A clear, open smile spread across his face as his eyes scanned her. His huge arm unfolded from under his head and the hand reached out to caress her cheek. She pressed against it and turned to kiss his palm. She breathed in deeply, the smell of a thousand desires filling her mind. It smelled of her, of him, of body oil and sweat and cum, both his and hers, and garlic and basil and the lubricant they had used to loosen the bolts on the divider between their two apartments just before he had lifted her in his huge, bulging arms and carried her, in a ceremony with much deeper meaning than she was, at the time, prepared to accept as possible, over the metal frame and into her living room where she had impaled herself on his achingly huge cock and ridden it to her (fourth? fifth? sixth? seventy-third?) orgasm of the day. "Hi, pretty lady." "Hi, pretty man." "What's up?" "I need to say something to you, but I don't know if I have all the words in the right place yet." "I'm not going anywhere. For the next couple of hours, anyway." She remembered he had the alarm set for seven-thirty. She rolled over and saw the large, red numbers glowing on the face of the clock. Four thirty-six. Why wasn't she sleepy? Why wasn't she so exhausted, both physically and emotionally, that all her body wanted to do was be unconscious? Instead she felt this incredible energy buzzing through her body. And the heat of this mountain of a man lying beside her. If she closed her eyes she could almost sense the curves of his massive physique by the intensity of the warmth and power radiating from him. Would she just stay awake, fucking her brains out until she finally collapsed, dead, everything sucked from her being in one final, explosive orgasmic apocalypse? What a way to go. This, however, was the crux of the matter currently haunting her mind. How much of all this was her and how much was Arnold? She didn't recognize this power, this energy, this insatiable desire to push towards a higher and higher plain of sensation as being anything within her. It was all well and good if Arnold wanted to pump her full of this cosmic whatever it was and send her soaring through the galaxies of some amazing universe, but she needed to have a little control over her own life. Not to suppress it, but just to know she had a say in what was going on. "Can you turn it off?" Arnold's brow wrinkled ever-so-slightly, his eyes flicked back and forth between hers. "No, I don't think so. It's as much a part of me as breathing." "Well, then, could you breath a little less deeply?" Arnold chuckled. "I'm sorry. Am I overwhelming you?" "That word came to mind, yes." "Sure. But I can't take all the blame for it." "Right. I suppose you're going to say this is all my doing." "Actually, yes. At least I think it's you. Everything that's happened today seems just a bit outside of what I've come to expect of life. The whole day has been filled with amazing people. I don't know if it was just the excitement of moving, the heat of the sun, the effort of carrying all this stuff up here to my apartment, low blood sugar or toxic waste. But almost every single person I've come in contact with has had such an incredible energy about them it's kept me running in high gear all day. I didn't want to risk missing an instant of the experience. And then, when I saw you down on the beach, your breast gleaming in the sunset, I was completely overcome with a sense of something. I'm still not quite sure what. But it came from you. I know that. You have an energy within you, you don't even know it's there, I can tell. But I felt it with my entire being as I looked at you, out there in the middle of the sand. I think you should know I'm just as impressed with my staying power as anyone. I mean, sure, I can hang in there pretty good, but it hasn't been since the days just after I lost my virginity that I've been so potent, so insatiable. It's a combination of things, I know. But none of them more than you." "I was afraid you were going to say that. I don't know, Arnie. I don't recognize any of this as being part of me. I feel like I'm being. . ." "Manipulated?" "I was afraid you were going to say that, too. Yes. I thought it was you. I was afraid that I was getting obsessed." "You are." "Hmmm. Maybe so. But I mean in a bad way. Like once this was all over there wouldn't be any Chris left." "There probably won't be." "Huh?" "Not the Chris you woke up with yesterday morning. In fact, the Chris you wake up with every morning is always a different person from the day before. Usually the effects are a little more subtle, though, so you don't realize it so much. But I know I've felt some big things shaking around in my life over the past day. I can't wait to see who I am tomorrow. I know one thing, though. A lot of what I'll be tomorrow will be you." "But don't you want to be just you?" "Nope. Because 'just me' is only that. Just. I'm not into 'just.' It's like I said before, out when we were taking the wall apart. I'm the melding of every person I've ever met. You are, too. I can feel all sorts of wonderful and not so wonderful people inside you when I'm inside you. Especially when you're cumming. Your guard is down and I can feel you push and pull as different memories of different orgasms run through your mind and you work to use the good parts of all those past orgasms to make the next one even better. We all do it. It's just that some save up the memories and access them a little better than others. I know, for example, that you've split your attentions fairly evenly between men and women." Chris was glad for the dim light in the room. Was she that easy to read? "Don't be so surprised when the old bear-tracker finds bear tracks. And don't be so embarrassed, either." "I'm not embarrassed. I just. . ." "Don't like your fortune told? I know. But I'm trying to help you see what this thing you're feeling is about. You store all this stuff up inside you, you carry it around with you all your life, you let it come to the surface when the emotions take over, you loose control. I think that's what you're feeling anxious about, right?" "I don't know. In fact, I'm not sure where this is all coming from. A few minutes ago I was convinced this was all your fault. I don't know. I need time to think." "Good. I'm glad to hear you say that. Think about it. Think about how good it feels to have so much wonderful experience to draw on. Think about how all your past loves have made tonight so incredible. And, false modesty aside, think about how good I've made it for you. There is only one thing I'm ever sad about. And I'm always sad about it. I wish I could be the pour sucker you're going to have sex with next. Because you are going to take with you all the energy and love the two of us have felt here tonight and you are going to scare the shit out of that person, just like you were tonight. The good part is that I'll be able to see the results of that the next time I get to be with you." "How do you know all this stuff? Who told you?" "Sam." "I should have kept my mouth shut." "Are you angry at Sam?" "No." She realized she had actually shouted. "No. I'm not angry at Sam. Exactly. I know I should be thankful for what she's done for you." "And for you." "Arguable, but for the sake of staving off a fist-fight, I'll concede the point." Arnold leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Stop that. I'm trying to disagree, here." He kissed her again. "Oh, God." She grabbed his face and pulled it to hers. Their lips met and opened as they dove deeply into each other. She felt a tingling come over her body. At first she thought it was coming from her cunt, but as it grew it seemed to develop just a little bit higher than that. It slowly filled her abdomen. She tried to open her eyes to look at Arnold, in fact, she thought her eyes were open, but a hazy blackness covered her vision. She felt the warmth of Arnold's lips envelope her soul and she dove down within him. The heat spread, coming closer and closer to her extremities. When it reached her head her eyes were suddenly filled with visions of bodies. Lots of them. Men, women, two's and three's and four's and arms and legs and penises and vaginas and breasts and abdomens and legs and toes and huge biceps and pectorals and belly buttons. In the middle of this confluence of sensuousness there was the face of a woman with long, straw colored hair, diamond-shaped face, strong neck leading to muscular shoulders and arms. Her bare breasts were capped with large, dark nipples that contrasted with her fair hair and complexion. The arms stretched out to her and she felt her face being pulled forward. Just before their lips met in the vision she knew who this was. She tried to fight down some intense feeling that suddenly welled up in her, thinking it might be anger or jealousy. But when it burst through the surface she recognized it as love. Unbridled, unqualified love. Both coming in and going out. She let herself go and flew away on a cloud of absolute bliss, a blanket of love spread over her own devastatingly beautiful body. When Chris awoke again she was alone in Arnold's bed. The sheets next to her were warm, it hadn't been too long since he had gotten up. She listened carefully and heard the water running in the shower. Was he singing? She felt she should join him, but then remembered her resolve to get a little perspective on this whole thing. Attaching herself to his massive cock at seven-thirty in the morning was not distance. Instead she rolled over and drank in the smell of him from the sheets and pillow. It had been so nice to spend the night next to him. Everything she had desired had been there for her. When she had wished he were hard he had been so, when she wanted to fondle a long, semi-flaccid tube of cock, he had softened for her. His pecs had been delicious mouthfuls and even his big toe had entwined with her own just when she had thought about doing it. So what was so bad about all that? Didn't every person dream about the lover who anticipated their every need? And it wasn't like it felt rehearsed or unspontaneous. It was like having a genie granting every wish as it came to mind. She also realized that she had found herself doing the same thing. Many times during the evening, once she got the hang of listening to him, watching him, finding out the patterns of his lovemaking and where he would go next, she would do something only to find that he was just getting ready to receive it. They had moved as if choreographed. As though they had been making love together for centuries. How did she know? How did he? She wasn't sure if she was ready for the answer to that one yet. She felt a movement in the room. The water had stopped running and he had returned. Would he know she was awake? The bed moved slightly as he sat on the edge. She suddenly felt the heat of his body hovering inches away from her. She could actually sense the curves of his pecs and biceps as they bulged towards her. She immediately became moist between her legs. How she wanted him. Even now. Even after all those devastating orgasms of the night before, she wanted him to instantly fill her with his hard, hot cock. The image of its size floated on the inside of her eyelids. "I've got to get to the gym, Chris. Otherwise I'd love to spend the next two or three centuries letting you have your way with me." How did he do that? She slowly opened her eyes. He was bent over her, an arm on either side of her body. As he held himself up, his triceps swelled. She ran her eyes over him and shook her head. "You are too painful to look at." "I'll take that as a compliment." "What happened last night?" "Oh, good. She doesn't remember. Sorry, officer. Never saw her in my life." "You know what I mean." "Actually, I'm afraid I don't." "We were talking. You kissed me and I had some kind of dream. I saw Sam." "What.?" "You don't know? You remember kissing me?" "Yeah. You fell asleep. Pretty quick, as I recall. What do you mean you saw Sam? You don't even know what she looks like." "Long blond hair, very nice body, big nipples." "You saw this?" "Yeah. I assumed it had something to do with you." "I just figured I'd finally bored you and you'd dozed off. What happened?" "Not sure. I think we made love. I guess it was just her coming through you." "I don't remember you making any noises or anything. So it wasn't like a wet dream." "No. It wasn't even like an orgasm. I just suddenly became filled with this feeling of love. For her. For you. For everyone you've ever had sex with. Just like you were telling me." "Well, except for the part about seeing Sam, it could just have been your imagination working on what I'd talked about a few moments before. This thing with Sam, though. I don't know. Are you okay?" "Mmmmm, yes. I'm fine. I think I've got a handle on what you were talking about. I know I'm not feeling as anxious about things." "Great. I've got to get my butt in gear. It's been three days since I've had a real workout, and I've got a busy day today. Stay here as long as you want. I'll lock the door behind me and you can go out your way." "You're having dinner with Patty tonight, right?" "Yup. And I've got a photo shoot this afternoon. Have you got any plans?" "Actually, I made a date with the guy who did me that little favor down on the beach yesterday. Chuck. Lives upstairs." "Ah. He's the one I get to be jealous of. Good. I look forward to meeting him." "Wait a minute. What are you going to do, take him for a test drive yourself?" "I hadn't planned on it, no. I'll just wait until I get to spend some time with you again so I can see the changes he'll make in you. I know one thing, though." "What's that?" "He'd better have taken his vitamins this morning because you are going to blow him away." "I have this almost irrepressible urge to have you drive that big cock of yours up inside me right now." "All right." Chris was suddenly dizzy with joy. She had been only half serious. The fact that he was willing to toss off his plans to satisfy her desires sent waves of emotion pouring through her body. He stood up at the edge of the bed and quickly undid his pants. She could see that he was already getting hard. The outline of his cock, held firm in his briefs, sent a shiver down her spine. What the hell was going on here? She was wet. It was like someone was flipping a switch in her. Pavlov's dog. Hear the bell, salivate. See the cock, lubricate. She chuckled. His pants and briefs dropped to the floor. She hmmmm'd. He moved onto the bed, kneeling next to her. She took the semi-hard penis into her mouth and sucked it until he was making small thrusting movements against her actions. She pulled her mouth away from his cock. It was so hard. Again. Arnold moved around between her legs which she spread. He wasn't in a hurry. Not any more of a hurry than he would have been considering his current objective. He knelt before her, his hands massaging the length of his shaft. His eyes roamed back and forth over her body. The look on his face was pure bliss. Her own eyes darted from one body part to another. He saw her observations and began to slowly flex and expand his muscles. He tensed. He tensed more. And more. And more. He got bigger, and bigger, wider and deeper until his huge muscles were so swollen he looked like he would explode. Chris's cunt demanded attention. She ran her hand down to her vagina and began vigorously rubbing herself. Arnold watched her for several seconds and then leaned forward and added his mouth to the efforts. She moaned, her head tossed back and forth on the pillow. Her bright red hair seemed to burn on her body. She felt movement, opened her eyes and saw him leaning forward, his left arm outstretched to support himself, his right hand holding the head of his huge, enraged cock. His eyes were filled with pure lust. Oh, God. Yes. Just like last night. She wanted it bad. She wanted it rough. She wanted it. . . "Oh, fuck. Oh, yeah. Oooo. Yesssss. Yes. Oh, fuck me. Hard. Hard. Yeah. Oo. Oo. Oo. Oo. Ah. Ah. So big. So big. Hunh. . . Hunh. . . Hunh. . . Hunh. . . Hunh. . . Hunh." Arnold drove his cock inside her in one motion. He then dropped his other hand to the mattress on the opposite side of her head, pressed himself up off her body and began long, full, amazingly rapid plunges into her. His hips were a blur. His muscles bulged across his body. She could cum just looking at the sight. It almost seemed that it was happening to someone else. How could anyone this big move this fast? And so very, very big. His huge chest hung over her and almost blocked her view of the entire ceiling. She grabbed his shoulders and could not even begin to get her hands around the enormous muscles that capped them. She dug her fingernails into him; he swore under his breath and doubled his efforts. She started to arch her back, pushing her hot cunt against him. She loved the feeling of his full, heavy scrotum banging against her ass. She tensed her own muscles and squeezed down on his cock. Again he swore. Within seconds she felt the old, familiar hum begin down inside her as it had so many times over the past twenty-four hours. How many vaginal orgasms was a girl allowed in one lifetime? Was she using up her entire allotment in one day? It came closer. Closer. She felt everything start to twist around inside her as her libido realigned for the onslaught of yet another body wracking release. Closer. Closer. She opened her eyes. Arnold's face was a contorted grimace of pleasure. The sounds of his own efforts told of the close proximity of his own climax. She knew just how far away he was. Or how close. She waited for the right moment, holding off her own joy until he had reached the same point. She reached out to him, felt his tension, heard his breath, smelled the air and knew. Now. Their bodies flailed about uncontrollably. They thrust themselves against each other and drove themselves up over the top. They were both screaming, crying out, as the orgasm rammed through them, its affect doubled, tripled, and more by the joining of their efforts. Arnold literally collapsed on top of Chris. His breathing was hard and heavy. He continued to thrust with his hips, his cock not willing to subside. Chris threw her arms around him and hugged him to her as hard as she could. They drew their faces together and kissed over and over again. She felt wild, strong, unbridled, like a horse set free with thousands of square miles of beautiful, open prairie to run across. She couldn't stop. She kept thrusting up at him, clamping down on his huge cock. She wanted him in deeper. Deeper. She drew him to her even tighter. Her clit ached to be pressed against something. She ground her groin against him. She clawed and scratched and rubbed and massaged his huge muscles, every one she could get her hands on. She couldn't stop. She wanted to devour him, completely take him inside her until they were the same, until they were forever locked in infinite orgasm. She could feel another wave building within her. Would he stay with her? Was he ready for her? He raised himself up to the push-up position again. The look in his eyes was deep, dark, scary. She hardly recognized him. He gave his hips a mighty shove and his still rigid cock plunged deep within her. Yes. Again. Yes. Again. Yes. Again. Sweat poured off of him and ran in rivers across her body, setting her skin to vibrate with the chill of its passing. She smelled something. Like ozone. Like electricity. Like a giant short circuit. The air grew brighter. The smell grew stronger. She felt a heat build between them. She looked down past her breasts. Was she dreaming? What the hell was it? There, arcing between their abdomens, was a shot of pure, bright light. Each time it jumped from one to the other their bodies convulsed and rammed together. The jolts came faster and faster. She could feel every muscle in their bodies contract as they rammed together, harder and harder. Her head swam, she felt a buzzing in her extremities, a warmth. Arnold's cock grew inside her. It got bigger, bigger, bigger. She began to expand. The two of them seemed to grow in proportion until they filled the whole room. And still they continued their mind-shattering union. Bigger and bigger and bigger. She lost all sense of scale. The heat inside her was growing so intense she could concentrate on nothing else. She felt like she was going to be split by Arnold's huge cock. The pressure of it on the walls of her vagina was becoming unbearable. Blood started to flow rapidly through her body. It filled her. She felt swollen. Her breasts ached and she looked at the nipples. They were so large. Bigger than she had ever seen them. She felt her clit. It seemed to be sticking out so far she could almost see it between her legs. It ached, as well. Higher and higher. Just when she thought she might lose it, she sensed a coming together. She listened to their cries. They were agonizing. She felt their bodies, they were devastated. She smelled the air, it was electrified. She licked her lips. She licked Arnold's lips. She dug her fingernails deep into his shoulders, raked them across his back, pulled herself up to him and set her teeth firmly into his deltoid. He let out a scream. It echoed through her and started to vibrate. The energy shot back and forth, riding on the arc of sexual electricity that jumped between them. She raised her legs, clamped them around his waist, drove her pelvis down onto his huge, cunt-splitting cock and the two of them exploded in orgasm. It felt like the top of Arnold's cock had blown off inside her. She couldn't help herself. She rammed her aching clit hard against him again and again as her body was overcome by something that resembled an orgasm like a hurricane resembles a light spring rain. It went on for hours, days, months. Her body was ravaged by the devastating ordeal. It took forever to subside, and when it did, they found themselves lying in a wet puddle of sweat that covered the entire bed. Their bodies were heaving as their lungs begged for more air. Arnold was finally soft and slowly pulled out of her, rolling off to her side. Despite the wetness, she was unbelievably warm. "Don't you ever, ever complain to me about being out of control, again, young lady. I don't know what the hell you did just then, but you'd better give me some warning next time." It took a few minutes for the words to sink in. Her? He was blaming that on her? She thought hard. It had felt so much a part of her, that's for sure. Had it really been her? "If I weren't so exhausted I hit you. What do you mean, Me? I couldn't have done that" "Great. So the only thing left is divine intervention. Okay. I've got to get to the gym. You call the pope. How the hell am I gonna make it through a workout now. We're gonna have to work something out here if you keep that up. Like sex every two-and-a-half centuries." "I tell you, I don't know what I did. I just wanted you so badly. And I couldn't stop. I felt so. . . so free. I couldn't stop. God, it was great. Sex should be that mind bending every time" "Ha. Only if you have nothing else to do with the rest of your life." He gently stroked her cheek. She pressed her lips to the back of his hand. "It was amazing. You are one very sexy lady." He leaned over and kissed her deeply, fully on the lips. "Now I've got to get going. Although I'd better have another quick shower so I don't have all the dogs in town following me around, thinking I'm in heat." "Arnold?" "Yeah, love?" "Thank you." "Thank you. You are a great lover and a great love. Have a great time tonight with Chuck. Give him all my best, if you know what I mean." Arnold hopped off the bed as though he hadn't just had the most physically draining sexual experience of his life. He grabbed his clothes and headed for the bathroom, his tight ass swaying back and forth seductively. Chris contemplated him after he disappeared around the corner. Looking back on a sexual experience usually expanded the memory to be either far worse or far better than it had actually been. She knew that no amount of imagination was ever going to surpass the reality of these past hours. The most amazing thing, of course, was the change she felt happening within herself. Modesty aside, she had always been considered a good lover. Some had said great. But nothing she had ever done with anyone in any situation had ever approached what had just happened between the two of them. And Arnold claimed it was her doing. Of course, he had no need to lie to her. And, in fact, he did seem as overcome by the event as she was, if only momentarily. And she did feel in control. She remembered the feeling of being able to do anything. Well, so she had. She chalked up his quick recovery to his amazing vitality and the simple fact that fantastic sex was just a way of life for him. It seemed to have energized him. She wondered if she were to sneak into the bathroom right now, would she find him with another erection, ready to go again? He had a life. Let him get on with it. And so did she. She had a meeting this morning with Nicholas. And his dogs. What the hell was she going to do with a bunch of yapping poodles and old bats drinking tea? That was supposed to sell make-up? She needed something to sell him instead. Only one thing sold make-up. Sex. Pure, unadulterated sex. Arnold. Pure, unadulterated sex. An image of Arnold's body covered with kisses, each a different color of lipstick suddenly came to mind. Another image of her personally placing each one of those kisses also came to mind. And then a third image of her loosing the account because she couldn't stop putting the kisses on Arnold came to mind. What about lots of women putting different colored kisses on Arnold? And a special color. Placed somewhere special. A special layout for Cosmo or something. They'd pay a fortune for the chance to run it. Imagine, a magazine paying to run an ad. And when Nicholas caught sight of Arnold. The man would cum in his three hundred dollar chinos. She was on a roll. But she needed something to show Nicholas. She thought about the shots she had taken in Arnold's exercise room the previous day. He had said the negatives were his. That meant he wanted strict control of what happened to the shots. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. As she whipped around the corner she stopped dead in her tracks. Arnold was brushing his teeth. His mouth was full of suds. His right arm was rapidly moving the toothbrush up and down in his mouth, the muscles flexing and jumping with each movement of the brush. He turned to her and smiled a big, white, drippy smile. "Ahgh fughaghpf doo prufh ma feef." She giggled. She also felt her genitals start to churn. He was so big. So beautiful. And so unaffected by it all. There was this quality of childlike innocence about him. He was always at play. Even the serious stuff, the comforting, the soothing, the deep, soul-searing sex, was filled with a child's wonder of the world around him. And here he was, his huge pecs bulging, his gigantic cock wiggling back and forth between his legs as he brushed his teeth and let the toothpaste drool down onto his chest. He looked down and saw the errant stream of white. He watched it as it slowly crept down the surface of his huge muscle. He waited until it was just ready to drip of onto the floor and he scooped it up with his forefinger and sucked it back into his mouth, smiling with the glory of his victory. Chris wanted to hug him to her, wanted to love him all over again, but knew where that would lead. She satisfied herself with staring at the wonderful sight before her until he was finished and had wiped his face dry. "I've got a favor to ask you." "Shoot." "You know those photos I took yesterday in the other room?" "Yeah." "Well, I've got this client who's looking to launch a really incredible line of cosmetics, but he's got some really goofball ideas about how to do it. I have some thoughts, and they include a well-developed male body with very specific physical attributes. I would like to try to change his mind regarding the campaign, but need some show 'n' tell." Arnold thought for only a second. "I trust you. Just don't give me away, okay?" "I'll guard you with my life." She meant it. He saw that. He started to get dressed. She enjoyed watching him wrap his body up for the outside world. Especially the ritual surrounding putting his huge cock into its confines. So big. "We should probably go through my agency." "No problem. Just let me sell him on this idea and you'll have a national spread. In fact, I imagine magazines will be paying us to run the ads." "This stuff is good? Nothing I'd be bothered about?" "Clean. No animals, no rain forests, no condors, no toxic waste. And his colors are sensational." "Great. Let's go for it." "Thanks." She went to him and kissed his cheek. She then grabbed a towel and wiped at the lower edge of his right pec, just next to the nipple. The towel rubbed back and forth across it and it grew erect. "You missed some." "Mmmm. No, I didn't." "You are incorrigible." "I'm also running late. I don't know what the rest of the day is going to be like, but if this guy needs to see me have him get in touch with the office. The name and number are on the announcement on my machine." "Great." She sighed. "What?" "You are so beautiful." He looked at her, started to say something, changed his mind. "Thanks. It's sometimes hard for me to remember that when people are staring at me. I wonder if I left my fly open or have a booger hanging out of my nose." "You really don't think about it, do you." "Nope. Mr. Ridell set me straight on it a long time ago. These are things I was born with. I didn't do anything to deserve them, they just are. If I start taking credit for them, I'm the biggest fool in the world. My body is my doing. I can say that's mine. But my face, my cock, my toenails, those are just there. Just are. I was given some wonderful pieces of equipment to work with. Those, I need to be thankful for. What I've done with that equipment, I'm thankful for having the chance." "Thankful to who?" "Ah. There's the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Ask me that again when we've both got a few spare hours. If you want a hint, pick through a few of the books on the shelf out in the living room." "I was browsing them yesterday. They seem to be a rather eclectic gathering of ideas." "Anyone who thinks the answers are only in one book are only going to get the answers in one book. I've got to run. I'll see you soon." He pulled her to him, and she felt the bulges of his biceps and pecs as she was enfolded in his strength. Their lips pressed together, drank deeply again, and parted, thirsting for more. He dashed back to the bedroom, grabbed a small portfolio and his gym bag. As he came back down the hallway, towards the front door, she marveled at the way his huge shoulders filled the entire space. She stepped back into the bathroom to let him pass and he gave her another deep kiss on his way by. He got to the door, opened it, stepped through and began to close it behind him, but stopped at the last minute, as though he had forgotten something. Stepping back inside, Arnold closed the door and walked back towards her. From the look on his face, it seemed very important. She stepped aside to let him pass, but he stopped in front of her. "I would be greatly remiss if I were to leave without telling you, after reflecting on the happenings of the past day and my reactions to them, that I am seriously considering the fact that I may be in love with you. Have a good day." He pecked her on the cheek and was out the door before she could do or say or think anything. It was several minutes before she was able to remember that she was standing, naked, in another person's apartment with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her heart was so full, her head so light, her mind so completely overcome with joy that she could manage to do nothing except revel in the warmth of the moment. She slowly got a handle on the situation and reminded herself that several. . . make that many. . . people had said that very same thing to her. She then reminded herself that none of them were anything like the person who had just said it to her. She then reminded herself that this was the same guy who, only yesterday, had been with at least three other women before she had even said hello to him and was going to be spending the night with a fourth, his other next door neighbor. She then reminded herself that she, herself was going to be spending the night with another neighbor and that this person who had just said this to her knew about it and rejoiced in it. She then reminded herself that she had never, ever, been in a situation like this before and should probably take everything as it happened. And where did he keep his tissues?