Cara glanced at her watch and quickened her pace toward the nurses' office where she would sign out and head home. But then she stopped short. Her peripheral vision caught a glimpse into room C3 as she passed, a room that was supposed to be vacant for two more days. Someone was in the room.
In a large, cushioned chair against the far wall sat a very old woman staring at her. Cara had never seen her before, so she figured this had to be the new resident. But she wasn't supposed to arrive until the day after Christmas. Cara felt a pang of sadness for the woman being admitted to a long-term care home on Christmas Eve, a time when so many other residents were taken home by their families. She approached the woman with a smile.
"Hello. You must be Ms. Jacobs. I wasn't expecting you for another couple of days."
"I'm where I need to be," the woman said, her voice low, calm, clear.
"Well, we want you to feel comfortable and cared for in your new home, and I'll do everything I can to make that happen. I'm Cara. Normally I'd be the one to help get you settled, but I'm off early today, so Michelle will be in to check on you shortly. You're in my wing, though, so we'll get to know each other very well."
"I know you well," the woman said.
Cara was used to odd statements like that and took it in stride. The elderly residents often confused staff for other people, sometimes even their own children.
"I'm sorry I have to run, but it was nice to meet you, and I'll see you again in a couple of days," Cara said and turned to leave, anxious to get home. She still had so much to do and was already losing time. She felt the pressure of this Christmas Eve party being a success for her husband, hosting key people from his law firm. He had been so stressed lately, so distracted, working hard to get a foothold in the firm.
"When the flame has gone out, what no longer burns goes cold."
Cara froze, the woman's words somehow striking to her core. She turned back, unable to make her legs keep going.
"Sit for a moment."
Cara moved slowly to the edge of the bed and sat, as if directed by a superior.
"You care for these people with skill, compassion and sincerity. You are a good nurse."
"Oh, uh, thank you, I --"
"And you are a good wife."
How could this woman possibly know that? Cara wanted to leave, but the next thing she knew, she was answering. "I love Ethan. He's a good husband."
"And yet... the flame."
The strange words opened a chasm within Cara and she fell into it, feeling the distance that had grown between her and Ethan over the past year. They had been married for four years and the love was still there, but the passion had faded. There was no denying it. She and Ethan hadn't had sex in weeks, and the few times they made the effort in recent months felt more like conjugal obligation than burning passion. She couldn't remember the last time her husband had given her an orgasm.
A sudden pang of guilt struck her. Ethan was working his ass off to get ahead in a respected law firm, to give them a better life. And her own long nursing hours ate into their personal time as well. But she never doubted his love, not for a second. He was a good man, the only man she ever wanted to be with.
"I have everything a girl could ask for," she insisted.
"But you are not a girl. You are a woman."
Cara opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, held fast in the old woman's piercing stare.
"This night you will receive three visitations," the woman said.
Three? Cara thought, with a little smirk. More like a dozen visitors coming to tonight's party, which was why she had to find a way to end this weird conversation and get going.
"Heed me!" the old woman snapped, as if hearing Cara's thoughts. "You will receive three gifts of the kindling, three sparks to reignite the flame, lest it go forever cold."
"Sounds like a Charles Dickens story," Cara said, smiling in an attempt to join the assumed jest. "You know, the ghosts of past, present and future, three chances to fix everything?"
The old woman leaned forward in her chair, no amusement in her eyes. "The choice to accept each kindling will be yours," she said. Then she pointed her finger straight at Cara. "The last is the most important. The last is your future."
* * * * * * *
All the way home, Cara kept thinking about the strange old woman's words. Looked like Ms. Jacobs was going to be a weird one. But it was time to shake that off. Work was done until after Christmas; she had a party to host now.
The setup looked good so far. She found all the last items she needed at the grocery store, and everything was in place for her courses of finger foods to be presented throughout the evening. Ethan was busy with the final arrangement of furniture in the main room to ensure a good mix of seating and table options available for his dozen mingling guests, as well as easy access to the buffet table.
Cara had changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt to complete the final food prep, but she could tell by how dark it had gotten outside the window that it was time to get dressed for the party. Just a few cucumbers to wash and slice and all would be ready.
Then the lights went out.
In an instant she was plunged into darkness, frozen in place with water running over the cucumber she held in the sink. She called out to Ethan and he called back saying it might be the breaker and he'd go check it out.
She waited. There wasn't much else she could do. Unable to see anything in the inky blackness and with only the hypnotic trickle of water to focus on, she began to get a feeling of being a step removed, as if she was there but not fully real, like a dream self she could see and feel but not control.
A warmth crept up her back and neck, then down around her waist, up her tummy, over her breasts. She realized the warmth to be hands caressing her body. She blinked, but there was no difference in the darkness. She couldn't see, couldn't will herself to move or speak. A dream self. She let the surreal feeling sweep over her.
The hands gave her boobs one last squeeze then glided down to her hips, and the waistband of her sweatpants was pushed down to her mid-thighs. A warm body pressed against her back and she felt naked skin against her bare legs, but what she felt through her panties pressing into the cleft of her ass made her heart start pounding. Her visitor in the dark was making his manhood known.
Probing fingers glided down and up her thighs, then followed the lines of her panties until they stopped on the right side, where a finger poked into the hole that was there. Shame jabbed Cara as she suddenly regretted wearing the old pair of white cotton panties that had a hole in the side seam and should have been thrown out weeks ago. Another finger pushed into the hole and Cara heard a little tear, then a louder rip as she felt a yank and the tightness of the leg and waist bands were gone. Then the fingers were on her left hip and the material there tore with a snap. The feeling of the cotton being pulled from between her legs made her clutch the cucumber in her hands tighter.
The body pressed against her again and this time she felt that manhood, hot and hard, tuck between her butt cheeks flesh to flesh. After a few slow strokes, the firmness slid down the groove of her ass to between her legs. Tingles sparked in Cara's tummy as the hard length came to rest against her slick labia, awakening a thrill she hadn't felt for far too long.
Heat swirled within her and she couldn't think, didn't want to think, didn't want anything but that teasing cock rammed up inside her. She was wet and ready. What was he waiting for? She leaned forward over the sink and slid her feet apart, spreading her legs as far as the stretched waistband around her thighs would allow.
What made her do that? Deep inside, at her hot core, she knew. She was giving her answer -- I accept.
Strong hands seized her hips and in one smooth thrust she was penetrated and lifted off the floor. She inhaled sharply as she was impaled, and she felt filled -- filled with flesh, filled with fire.
Her exhale came out as a long moan of gratification as she was slowly lowered to the floor with the steady withdrawal of her visitor's first entry. Just as the head slipped out and she felt empty, he rammed back into her and she was filled again. Oh how good it felt -- that heat inside her.
Now coated in her slick juices, her visitor began a rhythmic full-length thrusting into her depths. Sturdy hips slapped against her ass and the smacking thrilled her with the sound and feeling of being spanked with each passionate plunge.
Cara couldn't remember the last time she felt so consumed during sex. She didn't care how crazy this all seemed -- real or fantasy, man or mystery. She was a woman and she wanted this. Nothing else mattered except what she was feeling and where it was taking her.
And it was taking her there fast. Every drive penetrated deeper, touching that place far up inside where she longed to feel her man, igniting a volcano within her. Rising onto her toes, every muscle flexed as she erupted. Her pussy clenched the thick cock filling her as lava burst from her core and flooded throughout her. Sharp gasps were all she could manage as orgasmic convulsions quaked her body.
