Through Artemisia's Window Ch. 01

Rachel was kneeling, weeding in her garden in her front yard when she saw her neighbor's car come to a screeching halt on the street in front of her house. It was unseasonably warm on this Friday in early March in Colorado Springs. Spring seemed to be descending on the mountain town very early this year – there was no snow on the ground, and the past two weeks had witnessed average daily temperatures steadily climbing from the 30s to the high 60s. People who lived there started dressing like it was summer. They threw open their windows to get some fresh air in their homes, they drove around town with their windows and tops down soaking up the sun and the fresh mountain air, and acres of skin were on display peeking through tank tops, shorts and mini skirts.

Rachel decided that she, too, would take advantage of the nice weather and get a head start on preparing her yard for her summer garden. She was also dressed in a tank top and a pair of shorts which, for her, was a bold statement. She grew up as the daughter of two very conservative fundamentalist Christians. Since leaving home and living on her own, she had taken a few baby steps toward living a slightly more liberated life. Her definition of liberation, however, was to wear pants every once in a while instead of a dress. She undoubtedly still had a long way to go, and was not sure just how far she wanted to go. She still went to church and she had a boyfriend whom she planned to marry. On their dates they kissed passionately and did some heavy petting. Her passion had gotten the better of her and she had succumbed to her past boyfriend's sexual advances on two past occasions, but both of those attempts had gone so horribly wrong and were so completely unsatisfying that she decided it wasn't worth the guilt. With her current boyfriend, she was saving sex for marriage.

Still, Rachel was proud of the step she had taken to live on her own and know independence before accepting the dependence of marriage. She had not lived in her small house long, only for about 6 months. She had met her neighbor, Artemisia, who lived in the house to the right of hers, but they had only talked briefly. She seemed to be so busy with her job and frequent traveling that they never found the time to make good on their plans to get together over dinner or coffee to really get to know each other. So Rachel knew only very little about her. She was a small woman – about 5'2", of French-Canadian origin, and a writer. Her parents taught literature – thus the name – and she lived alone and was not married. She seemed nice and was always friendly, but on this day when her car skidded to a stop in front of her house, Rachel was frightened and thought something must be wrong. Artemisia jumped out of the passenger seat of her car and ran toward her front door, followed by a large dark man who was running after her with a sinister leer on his face. She didn't even return Rachel's wave hello.

Rachel stood wondering if Artemisia was in danger, but knew better as she watched the man caress Artemisia's behind while she unlocked her front door. Rachel wasn't offended at the interracial couple, but did find their size differential striking. Artemisia was a small woman, and he stood almost a foot over her. Watching the lewd display of him caressing and squeezing her behind in broad daylight let Rachel know that their moral standards for premarital conduct were obviously lower than hers. She shook her head and returned to her gardening once the couple had taken their frolicking into the house and the door slammed behind them. She wouldn't dare allow her boyfriend Kenny to grope her like that in public. She wondered just how licentious one must be in private if that was what one did in public. Rachel rushed the mental image of a couple engaged in hot sex out of her head, feeling morally superior that she did not do such things. At least, that is what she told herself, suppressing the twitch in her privates that accompanied the brief image of hot, lustful, premarital sex.

Just when she had safely put such thoughts of sex behind her and returned her mind to the plants and herbs she was planting this season, a noise of screams and yelps disturbed her concentration. The sounds were coming from the space between hers' and Artemisia's house. Theirs were small bungalow style houses, built with less than 10 feet separating each one. Listening more closely, she heard loud smacks anticipating every cry. Was that Artemisia? Walking to look down the side of both their houses, she noticed Artemisia's bedroom window was open, but she could not see inside from the angle at which she stood. She didn't dare walk down the side of her house and peek in, it was still light outside and they would surely see her.

Whack! "Unnnhhhh!" There it was again. Was he hitting her? The raw chorus seemed to go on. Rachel had to check things out, and make sure her neighbor was ok. But how to do so and not seem like a peeping tom? Rachel realized that her own bedroom window was opposite Artemisia's. All through the winter, both of their windows had remained closed and their curtains drawn. Artemisia had obviously opened hers to enjoy the unseasonably warm pre-spring air. If she went inside to her bedroom and drew back her curtains just a little, Rachel realized she would be able to see exactly what was going on and if she should call for help. She rushed inside her house to investigate.

She hurried to her bedroom and climbed across her bed that sat next to the window. She drew the curtains back a couple of inches to see across the way. When she first moved in she realized how close their two houses were, and not wanting to be seen herself, she had never drawn those curtains. What she saw that afternoon, she saw in vivid detail, and it thoroughly astonished her. Artemisia and her lover were both on her bed. He lay upright with his back against the headboard, and she lay across his lap – naked. With both hands he was squeezing and pawing her buttocks, saying something to her that Rachel could not hear with her window closed. She decided to be bold and slide her window open just a bit so she could hear what was going on. Then she saw him raise one hand suddenly and bring it back crashing down on Artemisia's rear with a resounding slap. Artemisia yelped and he smiled devilishly as he eyed the red hand print he left on her skin. To Rachel's surprise and horror, Artemisia wasn't struggling to get away. Instead, her eyes were closed and she had a look of pure pleasure on her face, and Rachel swore she heard her beg to be spanked again.

"...And that's for being so bad in the car teasing me all the way over here..." Thwap! "...wearing no panties and playing with your hot little pussy as we drove." Thwap!

And on it went for about five minutes, and Rachel looked on in rapt awe. She never would have expected this of her neighbor. Rachel continued watching as he reached for a small bottle on the night stand, and squirted something onto her rear. It looked like it went either on or between Artemisia's buttocks, but Rachel could not tell from the angle. 'Must be some kind of massage oil,' Rachel thought. Then she heard Artemisia say "Yes, put your finger in me!" and Rachel saw his fingers descend between her buttocks and her legs before she turned away, having had enough. No need to watch him finger Artemisia's twat, though it had never occurred to Rachel that a woman could have her vagina fingered from behind. Her and her boyfriend Kenny had never done it like that and they probably never would, for she had no plans to lay naked across his lap with her butt high in the air allowing him to spank her. However, as much as she wanted to tell herself that what she had seen did not interest her, when Rachel rolled over on her back to climb off her bed she noticed something that did not sit well with her: she was wet – very wet – and she was suddenly cognizant of the fact that her vagina was begging for a little attention.

Rachel was no stranger to masturbation. She tried not to do it too often, but sometimes after dates with Kenny she just couldn't help it. She reasoned that it helped her keep their relationship virtuous. However, when she thought about making love to Kenny, she never got this wet! What was wrong with her? As she laid there thinking about it, she realized that her window was still open and she could still hear the goings on across the way. She listened as the 'oohs' and 'ahs' turned to wet slurping 'umms' and 'mmnns.' Unable to resist the temptation, she turned over and looked out the window to resume spying on the horny couple.

They were doing something different indeed! Rachel almost yelped herself at what she saw. Artemisia was on her knees with her ass now facing directly in Rachel's direction out the window. Her head was down in her lover's lap, and his head was tilted back with a look of bliss on his face. She could only imagine that Artemisia was giving him oral sex, but that is not what shocked her. What left her flabbergasted was the fact that his fingers were not in Artemisia's vagina, but instead Rachel saw a very long middle finger sliding in and out of Artemisia's anus! She blinked to make sure she was seeing correctly. Waxed bare, she had never even seen anyone so lewdly exposed! And bent over as such, she could unmistakably make out that there were two orifices exposed for the world to see – the smaller and higher of which had a shiny wet finger plunging in and out of it.

Rachel watched as Artemisia's lover got up on his knees from his seated position. Their angle changed once again and Rachel could now see as he started thrusting his penis into her mouth while he continued his digital assault on her anus. Instead of one finger he was now using two. Again to Rachel's astonishment, Artemisia was not trying to get away, but instead was passionately delivering oral attention to his penis with a look of joy on her face. Rachel could not comprehend what she was seeing of her neighbor. Surely, no self-respecting woman would let a man play with her in a way that bordered on the frightful sin of sodomy! After about 2 minutes of this he pulled away from her hungry mouth and his penis was so hard it looked angry in all its shiny wetness. Rachel heard him ask, "Are you ready, baby?"

"God! I'm so ready for you to be inside me!" Artemisia replied.

He then asked her "Do you want your toy in you first?" Rachel was confused. What toy? Why would she need a toy in her first?

"No, I don't need him, I'm ready for you baby!" Artemisia insisted breathlessly. Needing no further encouragement, he kissed her passionately, and then positioned himself behind her bent over form. They were in full side profile now in position to Rachel and she wondered what they were doing with her still bent over on her knees. Her wonder was over when she saw him slowly slide himself into her from that position.

Rachel again rolled away from the window and onto her back disturbed at what she just saw. 'What an animalistic way to make love,' she thought, reminded of what she used to see on her great aunt and uncle's farm. The studs would mount the mares and the bulls would mount the cows in just that same manner. People were supposed to face each other and kiss softly, weren't they? The noises coming through her window were anything but soft! 'How uncivilized,' she thought and immediately felt ashamed to realize that her neighbor's uncivilized behavior had now made her even wetter! Oh, how she wished Kenny was there to make out with her! She did not want to face the fact that it was not thoughts of married lovemaking with Kenny that had her so worked up, but instead the sight and steady sounds of the very carnal fornication happening next door.

Her hand drifted involuntarily to her crotch and started rubbing herself outside her shorts despite her inner misgivings and discomfort. The bawdy chorus from across the way was intensifying and Rachel could not motivate herself to close the window nor get up and leave the room. She was repulsed, filled with guilt and shame, and utterly riveted by her unassuming little neighbor's sexual escapades. Rachel rolled over once again to resume her voyeurism of Artemisia's late afternoon tryst. He was sliding into her much more forcefully now, with an intense grip on her hips and a determined look in his eye. Artemisia was screaming and yelling deliriously with pleasure and begging him for something, something Rachel could not quite make out. Every time Artemisia begged for it, he would tell her 'not yet' and smack her forcefully on her behind as he continued thrusting into her. It was raw and it was hot. Witnessing this pushed Rachel past the point of no return. Her pussy was starving for some attention. She had to masturbate, and she couldn't put it off any longer.

She slipped her hand beneath her shorts but found her movement restricted while on her stomach. It was dark in her room and starting to darken outside so she decided to take a risk. Besides, she reasoned, Artemisia and her lover were so caught up in the rapture of what they were doing that they would not look over her way. Feeling relatively safe, Rachel opened her curtains a little wider to get a better view and propped some pillows up behind her so she could lie on her back and watch the rest of the lewd performance and comfortably masturbate. She reached her right hand back down into her shorts and started rubbing her clit furiously as she watched Artemisia's lover now savagely pounding into her with wild abandon. Rachel could hear his hips smacking into her buttocks as he continued his relentless thrusts and she heard both of them grunting, yelling and screaming for all they were worth.

"Go ahead, baby, do it!" she heard him yell and Artemisia screamed all the louder before she went silent with violent convulsions. Rachel knew that the woman was having an orgasm, but it was nothing like the ones she had from masturbating and being fingered by Kenny. The orgasm she was witnessing was of an intensity which she had never known or imagined. He was obviously having one too, as he was now grunting loudly and continuing to pound into her with brutal force. Rachel was shocked at the violence of their act, nothing like how she imagined she should be made love to some day. She was incredibly aroused but her lingering discomfort kept her from quite being pushed over the edge. Then she saw something she really did not expect that changed everything. Their violent and brutal fornication suddenly turned into the sweetest affection – Artemisia's lover bent over her form and gently kissed his way up her back and around her neck until landing at her lips for the most tender of kisses. That wasn't at all like the animals she used to see on the farm growing up. That was love, and it totally pushed her over the top. A powerful orgasm ripped through her body, the most powerful she had ever experienced, and her head fell back as she rode it out. It lasted a good three or four minutes as her body was continually wracked with spasms, and Rachel had no idea that she was now treating her neighbor to a lewd chorus of her own.

Rachel was shocked by the force of her orgasm but was mortified when she finally opened her eyes to see what had become of the couple across the way. He was gone and no longer in the room, but Artemisia had not moved. She laid there in the same position in which he had fucked her, looking exhausted but also with a very content smile on her face and staring right at Rachel! In a frightened and frenzied panic Rachel rolled off her bed and onto the floor out of sight of the window. 'Oh my God!' she thought. 'She saw me, she saw me masturbating and she must have known that I was spying on her! How will I ever live this down? How can I ever look her in the eye again?' She stayed on the floor and crawled out of her room. There in the hallway she sat back against the wall with her elbows on her knees and brought her hands to cover her face. She smelled her own musky scent on her fingers and was even more disgusted at what she'd done. A minute ago she was flying through the most powerful orgasm of her entire life. Now she was so ashamed she thought she would never be able to show her face in her neighborhood again.

---------(_*_)---------

Days passed and Rachel had carefully structured her comings and goings so as to avoid a run-in with her neighbor. She closed her bedroom window and drew her curtains shut tight. She even slept on her couch to avoid hearing anything should the sound travel through her closed window, given how close their bedrooms were. She was still mortified, and did not know what she would say or do when the day finally came that their paths crossed again. She pretty much stayed inside and watched TV all weekend. The one time when she did need to go out on Sunday for church, she watched studiously out her window to make sure the coast was clear before dashing to her car and speeding off. She felt silly sneaking around like that, but her shame was even greater. She was really dreading Monday morning. Those were the times she was most likely to see Artemisia, but they almost never got home at the same time. It was hard to sleep that Sunday night. Visions of running into Artemisia and giving her an awkward apology kept running through her head... that, and the wicked scene she witnessed for which she was apologizing. It took her three hours to get to sleep.

When the morning came and it was time to leave for work Rachel decided she wasn't ready. Tomorrow she would make the confrontation. She again watched from her window until the coast was clear and then she left for her job. She would just make up some excuse for her boss as to why she was late. It was, however, a weight lifted off of her shoulders that there would be no confrontation for the moment, and so it went on for an entire week. Each night Rachel would tell herself that she would do it the next day, and for every new day that week there was always tomorrow. She drove home that Friday, stopping at the dry cleaner's along the way, arriving home at around 5:45 feeling safe because she saw no sign of Artemisia's car. She gathered her keys and her purse and then stepped out of her car to reach for her clothes in the back seat. Clothes in hand, she shut the car door with her hips as she fumbled to find her house keys. The sound of someone else's voice startled her so much she dropped her keys and her purse, its contents falling out onto the ground.

"Hi!" Artemisia said with a big smile.

"Oh God! I mean, oh hi, uh, hello Artemisia. Ooh, you startled me," fumbled Rachel as she bent down to pick up her things.

"Sorry about that. Here, let me help you," Artemisia responded, joining her kneeling in the street.

"No, that's ok, I got it, oooh!" Rachel flustered, as the dry cleaning joined her purse contents on the ground. "I don't know why I'm so clumsy today."

"You look like you have your hands full. I don't mind helping you inside..."

"That's quite alright, I've got it, really," Rachel said, reaching for a vial of lipstick rolling toward the gutter. She missed, almost slipping and falling herself. Artemisia grabbed it for her.

"Don't be silly, your hands are full enough and you seem quite anxious. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I mean no, I mean I'm fine I just thought that we should, maybe we could, uh, talk about, uh, what happened last Friday. I, umm, don't want you to have the wrong impression of me, I don't do those kinds of, I just wanted to apolo-, wanted to say I'm sorry-"

"Why don't I help you carry these things inside and we can sit down and talk over a cup of tea, shall we?" Artemisia interrupted, smiling broadly at the nervous and embarrassed woman and finding it quite amusing.

"Ok, I suppose that would be fine, but I don't really have anything inside, I wasn't expecting company, I have some diet coke..."