Through The Fire and Flames Pt. 01

Ever since moving to the neighbourhood, I had largely kept to myself. It wasn't because the neighbours were old and grumpy, young or annoying, or simply not worth my time, I just liked to keep myself to myself. That's just how it was.

If I wasn't working, I was working out, and if I wasn't working out, I was busy with something else. I was always on the move and there was always something going on. It made it hard to socialise with anyone but those in my immediate; taking me several weeks before I even properly talked to my first neighbour, who turned out to be quite the asshole. Luckily, he lived across the street from me, but even that felt too close to home.

If my initial reception coloured my perception of the type of neighbours I had, it did so with a wide brush. I had talked to many of them here and there since moving in, with most being alright and nothing to write home about, apart from the next-door neighbour to the right, Maria.

At first, I thought she was just a pretty face, a suburban woman who was more than likely a total bitch, a lot of them were around here. Yet, when I first sat down with Maria and had a proper conversation, my preconceived notions were proven completely and utterly wrong.

It was a September evening, the last dying days of summer. The final rays of the sun's light eclipsed through the suburbs, eager to shine through where and when it could. Each house and their different heights and shapes encouraged the sporadic, golden-hour lightshow that I had been enjoying in my garden. Just another reason why I loved this place.

With the sun lounger out, tanning oil on, and joint in hand, it was shaping up to be a great Friday evening, and whether or not the neighbours knew of my extracurricular activities, it didn't matter. No one had yet arrived at my door with their pearls clutched tightly, they simply let it be. It wasn't until Maria next door had popped her head over the fence that I had been brought back to reality, momentarily at least.

"Hey you", She said, her flowing brunette hair worn down for once, framing her middle-aged face to look even more attractive than usual, "I may be getting on James, but I'll always remember that smell."

"Not a fan?" I said lazily, taking a long drag as I turned my head towards her direction. She had caught me, not just smoking, but with barely any clothes on as I sunbathed, my gym short short's the only piece of clothing I had as I soaked in the last few weeks of the sun's juice for this year. I usually smoked at the end of the garden, did it inside, or went to a nearby park to do it, however it seemed my laxness would finally bite me in the ass.

"Wouldn't you like to know," She said, giggling.

It was nice to hear that, especially after I had found out when, in one of the short conversations I've had previously with her, that she usually had the house all to herself. A couple children, a divorced husband, a consistent gym schedule and curvy in all the right areas; the perfect next-door dick tease that I of course needed in my life, just to make it all that more complicated.

"If you want in, just say so Maria." I replied, smiling, "Anyway, you're not 'getting on', you look great.".

A wide smile began to form on her face as she looked at me, and I could have sworn she was staring not at me, but into me. She had just enough of a hint of mischief on her face as she devoured me with her hazel eyes, and I couldn't help but think to myself how odd it was that she was single.

"Adorable, even when high!" Said Maria.

"I'll take that as a no," I said in between tokes, "If the smell is too much, I can take this elsewhere, I don't mind. I figured I'd smoke until someone told me off; is that someone you, Maria?".

"Hmmm," She said, pausing for a second as she continued to look at me, her eyes glazing over me and sticking to my torso for just a tad too long to just be a coincidence.

"Um, yes... wait- no!" She added quickly, "No need, just, if you could do it a bit further away from where you are, that would be great. I don't really use the rest of my garden, except the patio out back, whilst I don't really mind it, it's --".

"No worries, Maria," I said, standing up and picking up my lounger, "You should have said something to me earlier."

For a moment, Maria said nothing, choosing to watch me silently, but then eventually spoke up. "Wait, don't go now," She said quickly, "I can't talk to you when you're all the way over there."

There's that smile again...with a hint of sultry mischief...fuck me.

"Oh, so you came out here to talk to me too then, huh?".

Maria blushed, seemingly momentarily lost for words as I quickly interjected before she could speak again.

"You know, you can always stop peering over that fence and join me, if the smell isn't too much for you that is.".

We had never gotten that far yet, nothing past pleasantries, hello's, and all the small talk in-between was all that our relationship had seen. A one-on-one conversation was a big step, and to smoke at the same time? Well, needless to say, it wasn't exactly the wisest decision, yet here we are. She was my direct neighbour after all, yes, but so were the grumpy bastards next door to me, Scott and Andrea, and, in my experience, it's always been best to just keep these people at an arm's distance (no matter how much I wanted the opposite with Maria.).

Maybe it was the marijuana talking or the post-gym endorphins rushing through my system, or perhaps I was just a horny guy who had enough of seeing this hot, mature neighbour walking around, being kind and, at times, perhaps flirty, without doing anything about it. Whatever the reason, I was simultaneously happy and frightened as soon as my mouth began moving, and once her mouth started moving, those feelings were amplified tenfold.

Moment of truth...

"Are you sure?". She said unsurely, her brow furrowing slightly as she spoke, "I don't want to cramp your style...".

"Can't cramp what I don't have.". I said, shrugging.

I could see her doing the calculations in her mind, the same calculations I had been doing ever since I had suggested it. There's an etiquette, an unwritten, unspoken rule around neighbours. Once you make that move, you're inviting a situation that could either develop into something great, or, in my humblest opinion, something incredibly fucking terrible. The beauty was that there was only one way to find out.

Here's the thing; there are people you want to be friends with -- in my case, guys who are into the same stuff I am and are around my age - and there are people you want to date -- in my case, girls who workout, are kinky, and can have an intelligent conversation with me - and then there are those you want to fuck -- in my case, girls who workout, are kinky, and it wouldn't hurt If they can have an intelligent conversation with me too. Complex, I know, but if we can't at least have a halfway conversation, we might as well just be animals, acting and surviving on our base instincts. One thing is for sure though; never, ever should any of the three really be looked for in your next-door neighbour. If only I learned to take my own advice.

"You're too hard on yourself," She sighed, "But yes, that does sound nice. I think I can put up with it for a bit, but if you start talking about 'peace and love' and whatever differences there are between strains and all that, well I'm leaving, I swear!".

A whole thirty seconds had passed before I heard a knock on my front door. My heart didn't know what to do, deciding to jump and sink at the same time, whilst my cock knew exactly what to do, much to my annoyance.

Stop it, idiot. I thought to myself, gathering my remaining brain cells for a chat in my head office, you're high, you're horny - well, you're always horny when you're high - but, if you can just not be an idiot, you might end up coming out of this alive and unscathed. I believe in you.

She knocked again just before I got to the door; did she think I had been joking? Or is she just as horny as I am? Either way, as I pulled the handle and it swung right past me, she knew now that I wasn't, and was I happy she wasn't either.

I couldn't see what she was wearing before, the fence had covered up most of her, but, in a way, I'm glad I didn't, because what greeted me was an ensemble that might have just distracted me a bit too much to have scrambled my thoughts together coherently.

Her brown locks cascaded downwards, resting just above the swell of her breasts, which I could see incredibly well all things considered. She had a tight-fitting top on that seemed to be designed for one function and one function only; to make her tits stand out as much as humanly possible, and that they did.

I'm more of an ass man myself, but, if I was to be honest, it really depends on what I'm looking at. If I have a massive pair of breasts in front of me, then fuck me, I'm a boob man, sign me up. You'd need a tow truck attached to my neck to pull my mouth off them. Yet, when I see a good ass that leads to a small waist, well, I'm equally as happy, let's just say that. Luckily (or unluckily, should I fuck this up somehow, which could easily happen), Maria had both, sporting black gym leggings on that fit her figure like a glove. Inside, I was crying -- tears of joy or tears of sadness, I honestly couldn't tell you, maybe both -- but on the outside, I was calm and collected somehow. How long I could truly keep the charade up was anyone's guess, but I was determined to do my best, no matter how distracting her attractiveness was.

Beauty is everywhere, and women are just people at the end of the day. They have enough men gawking at them all day without them ever having the balls to say a word to them, and for what reason other than the fact they're acting like pussies? Talk to them like they're another human being stuck on this floating rock, look past their looks, be playful and you'll be fine. You'll quickly realise if they're into you or not, and, by the way Maria was looking at me - and the subsequent hug that followed, fairly large tits (DD-sized if I was to guess) pushed against my chest and all -- I have a sneaking suspicion she might have been interested in more than just a conversation with me.

"Always good to get that out of the way I think." She said, smiling, although her slight nerves were evident in her voice.

There had always been tension between them, even if I had barely talked much with her. A simple hello here and a small chat about the weather there, yet there was always something in those almond eyes that betrayed her. A look of fire threatening to become an inferno, a small spark of light ready to seize the world around it; me, it seemed. And that's what I could see right now. Unabridged and unbridled lust bubbling below the surface of his early forties neighbour, Maria.

"Lead the way then you," She said, her smoky eyes pointing ahead of me, to which I only readily obeyed. I don't have much of a submissive streak in me, even for the more experienced, more mature crowd that I liked a lot, but, for now at least, I would entertain her.

I led her through the hallway, past the stairs I could only wish to ascend together with her later on, and toward the back of my house. We passed through the living room - a couple of glasses on the table, remotes here and there, but, luckily, it was fairly tidy other than that. There was nothing that interesting here, nothing really out of place, apart from this cabinet where I keep a lot of historical items I've purchased over the years, and Maria noticed it.

"Oooo," She said excitedly, "What is this then? A little museum?".

"You could call it that, yeah.". I said, laughing.

Maria opened the double doors, a chorus of additional oh's and ah's emerging from her mouth, not that I really noticed of course. I was checking out a completely different museum piece before me. Yes, that was a terrible joke to say, but she's hot and finally in my house, give me a break.

She continued to talk about the various items I had - several old-fashioned knives, mountains of coins from different periods of times, a couple greek vases and some roman pieces of jewellery to name a few. The more she looked, the further she bent down, and the harder it was to keep my attention on the conversation and not her widening ass.

It was then, for some completely random albeit somewhat unsurprising reason to me in hindsight, that she moved back a bit too far as she bent down further, her ass making contact with my thigh and moving dangerously close to my dick, yet she said nothing. Perhaps it was because she wasn't technically touching anything inappropriate, yet the longer she kept the edge of her ass there, the harder I was slowly becoming - especially as her clothing choice did little to cool the tension that had been heating up ever since she entered the house.

Finally, after a few moments, she returned to her regular posture, turning to me with a massive smile on her face.

"Very interesting collection, I just love it! We'll have to take another peak at this - and anything else interesting in your house - after a smoke! Deal?".

I smiled, a million intrusive thoughts running through my clouded brain as I did so. "Deal.".

Feeling brave, I decided to take her hand, leading her slowly through the back door and out onto the patio, the last golden rays of the setting sun welcoming us with open arms.

Maria giggled, "Cute, and a gentleman. You must have a girlfriend, surely?" She said as I let go of her hand and sat down, herself taking the seat opposite. "I mean, I can't say I've seen her come and go - or, oh, maybe...". Her voice tailed off, looking awkwardly at me for a moment.

"O-or a guy, of course!" Added Maria quickly, earning a raised eyebrow from myself and only the slightest hint of a smirk developing across my sunlit face.

She put her head in her hands, shaking her head gently, "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," She stuttered, looking everywhere but my face.

I said nothing as I tried to contain my laughter, yet quickly gave in as I reached for a pre-rolled joint that had been laying on the table near us. I laughed, she laughed, I lit the joint, we continued to laugh, a mental image of her bent over the patio table in front of me entered my brain suddenly, and I cursed myself silently. You're one stupid, horny, bastard, did you know that?

Our shared laughter began to die down as she watched me take a long drag from the sparked joint, whether or not she was eyeing me or the joint up, I didn't know, and, quite frankly, as that familiar hit washed over me, I realised I didn't care. She was a hot girl - woman, even - yet what was I really doing here? What was she doing here? What were we doing here?

Those recurring thoughts were quickly jettisoned, however, as I watched her rearrange her legs too. Those damn legs. I silently cursed. Fuck me.

Doused in a litre of water and resurrected from the dying embers of my pre-horny fires, I was beginning to be riled up again, mentally at least, and, as I took another drag and passed it to Maria's fake-nailed hand, a shiver ran up my back.

Oh fuck me again...I thought as I eyed her dangerously erotic nails with jealousy. An image of her raking them teasingly across my balls flooded my mind almost immediately, torturing me completely rent-free.

"I'm so embarrassed!". She chuckled, taking a long drag and no doubt attempting to hide within the rising and quickly dissipating smoke cloud, breaking me from my somersaulting mind, but only slightly.

"But I can't say I'm not a bit relieved - I wouldn't want a girl, or, well, more so a guy, coming over, finding us like this..."

"And why is that?".

"You know why.". She said, a knowing smile painted across her face as she stared into me intently.

I laughed, "Well, luckily for you, no, there Isn't anyone else. Eternal bachelor right here," I said, pointing to myself with my free hand as I took the joint she offered back to me.

"So, how is it?" I asked her after a while, filling the silence Maria failed to fill, no doubt thinking over something.

"The joint? Oh, you wouldn't believe...just how I remember it. Why the fuck haven't I come by before now?".

Now that's new... I thought, pondering the last time - if ever -- I heard her swear.

I decided to say nothing, and instead looked across my garden, up, through the trees, and into the rays that continued to bombard us. It truly was a day full of beauty.

"We should...we should find somewhere cosier," Said Maria finally, "Somewhere where we aren't sat across from one another, this is too much like an interview, and that just doesn't feel right."

"I couldn't agree more. There's a bench down there, at the bottom of the garden, but we go there on one condition.".

Maria's eyes lit up even brighter than the cherry red end of the joint, "Taking me somewhere more private huh?" She teased.

"You read my mind," I joked, although it was far from a joke.

"Go on then," Replied Maria, "What's the condition?".

"You tell me about the great Maria...?". I said, gesturing with my hand.

"Stollen, Miss Maria Stollen." She said, outstretched her hand and excitedly shaking mine. "Seems like making deals is our forte!".

I laughed in agreement, letting go of her hand and motioning her to walk down the garden path.

"Ladies first, Ms. Stollen.". I said, suddenly being treated to a rear-view that made both my heart and dick jump, even though it was only partially hard.

I couldn't tell you how thankful I was that my erection hadn't gotten completely out of control, regardless of her being ahead of me or not. All it took was one head turn, and I'd have been caught. In these shorts, I might as well not be wearing them If I was to get hard, and, even though she had so far given me all the signs of someone interested in me, I can't say she'd be that turned on watching me walk with her as my body tried to pitch a tent. Not really that attractive to women who haven't even seen it before (no matter how much I wish it were).

"So how long have you lived here Maria?".

"Long enough to have known the previous tenant of this house." Replied Maria, "Not at all as interesting as you, that's for sure.".

I smiled, "As interesting as me, huh?".

"Well," She said, taking the left-hand side of the bench once we reached it, myself taking the right, "The previous guy wasn't much of, well, anything. Kept to himself, must have been late 30s, early 40s, into IT I think. Bit of a weirdo really...".

"The quality of the tenant over the years hasn't changed much then." I laughed, passing her the joint. She laughed in response too, slapping me gently on the leg as she took the joint from my hand, letting her hand on my leg rest there afterwards.

"As if." She sighed, her giggling subsiding, her hand still lingering on my leg, "Go on, any question, ask away.".

I have just the one in mind...

"You asked me earlier about any girls in my life, well, what about you?".

She didn't respond at first, choosing instead to squeeze my leg, not slap it, and, ever so gently, dug her nails in slightly, pulling me out of my hazy high suddenly.

"There's no one, no one worth talking about anyway. You probably put two and two together, what with the kids being here some days and not others...only one is actually mine, the other is his from a previous girl. The warning signs were clear, I didn't take much before I had enough of him though. In order for us to not lose our minds, we share ownership. It is what it is I suppose.".

She leaned back, staring up at the darkening sky, smoke emerging from her mouth like the aftermath of a fire-breathing dragon, "They're with him at the moment, but I'm not. Not many guys really do it for me. I don't know why, not really something I want to talk about. It doesn't matter, does it James? The present matters, we matter...".