I Went Up to Complain About the Noise and Came Down as His

The clock read two in the morning and the bass from the apartment across the hall was still making the glasses in my cabinet rattle. It was the third night in a row. Iván had moved in barely a month ago and seemed not to understand that the walls in this building were made of cardboard and that the rest of us mortals had to get up to work.

I pushed myself up from the sofa with a rage burning in my chest. I didn’t bother getting dressed: I threw a gray silk robe over the short nightdress, the one that barely covered my thighs and left very little to the imagination beneath the thin fabric. I stepped out into the hall barefoot, my footsteps almost soundless on the worn carpet of the landing.

In front of his door, the noise was a physical presence. I knocked on the wood with my knuckles, timid at first, then with the force of someone who had finally lost patience.

—Iván! Open up already! —I shouted, hoping to punch through the wall of sound.

The music cut off abruptly. The silence that followed was almost painful, a sudden emptiness that left my heart beating out of rhythm. I heard the lock turn and the door flew open.

Iván was not the kind of neighbor one argued with in pajamas at two in the morning. He stood there, leaning in the doorway, shirtless, in sweatpants hanging dangerously low on his hips. His dark hair was tousled and his eyes swept over me from head to toe with a slowness that made me feel naked instantly.

—Does the noise bother you, Marina? —he asked. His voice was not apologetic. It was deep, rough, and I felt it vibrate straight in my lower belly.

—It’s two o’clock, Iván —I replied, trying not to let my voice shake—. I start work at eight. It’s not fair for the whole building to put up with your music.

Instead of backing away, he took a step into the hall and invaded my space. I instinctively retreated until my back hit the cold wall of the landing. He planted a hand beside my head and leaned in. The scent of expensive cologne, tobacco, and an almost animal heat wrapped around me completely.

—What’s not fair is that you’ve spent a month watching me through the peephole every time I come or go, Marina —he whispered, bringing his face close enough that I could feel his breath—. And what’s sinful is that you came up here in that robe knowing perfectly well you’ve got nothing on underneath.

I felt the air leave my lungs. The chill of the wall collided with the fire radiating from his body. Iván lowered his gaze to my chest, where my nipples, betrayed by the hallway air and the tension of the moment, stood out brazenly beneath the silk.

—Did you come up to complain about the noise —he asked— or because you couldn’t stand one more night without me paying attention to you?

I was left speechless, trapped between the icy wall and the heat coming off his body. His stare didn’t ask permission; it claimed every inch of my skin with an arrogance that made my blood boil and, at the same time, loosened my knees. I tried to push his arm away, but it was like trying to move a beam.

—I don’t know what you’re talking about —I lied, though my voice came out like a frayed thread—. I just want you to turn the volume down.

He let out a dry laugh. He leaned in so close his chest brushed my hardened nipples through the fabric. The sensation was electric, a spark that ran down my spine and settled between my legs, which were already starting to betray me.

—You lie as badly as you hide —he murmured, sliding the free hand from the wall to my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes—. You came up with the music excuse because you needed someone to put their hands on you. And I’m not the kind of man who leaves anything half done.

With a fluid motion he grabbed my waist and turned me, slamming my back against the door of my own apartment, right across from his. The blow didn’t hurt, but it was enough to make it clear that I wasn’t in control of anything anymore. His hands moved up my sides, squeezing the flesh beneath the robe.

—Do you want silence? —he asked, his mouth brushing my ear while I felt the unmistakable bulge of his erection against my thigh—. Then I’m going to give you a real reason to shut up. Or better yet: to make you the one who wakes the neighbors.

My hands, which had lifted to shove him away, ended up gripping his forearms. It was a silent surrender. Iván felt it and his smile turned more dangerous. He slipped one hand through the opening of the robe, searching for direct contact with my skin. When his fingers brushed the curve of my breast, I let out a gasp that he smothered instantly with his other hand over my mouth.

—Shhh —he ordered, and the glint in his eyes made it clear that wasn’t a suggestion—. If you’re going to scream, make sure it’s because I told you to.

The motion sensor in the hallway went dark, leaving us in a complicit half-light, broken only by the strip of light spilling from his open door. In the darkness I felt him untie the knot of my robe with insulting ease. The silk slid from my shoulders and hung from my elbows.

—Look at you —he growled—. You like the idea, don’t you? Someone opening their door right now and seeing you like this, against the wall, claimed by the neighbor you keep saying you hate.

I felt his fingers pinch my nipples with a pressure that made my back arch. The fear of being discovered merged with a savage desire, a mix that made me want to beg him not to stop.

—You know what happens with noise complaints, Marina? —he whispered, his voice a low purr—. Sometimes the punishment has to be just as scandalous as the offense.

Suddenly a metallic sound rang out: someone in the apartment below had shut a door. Panic shot up my spine, but he didn’t flinch. On the contrary, he seemed fed by my fear. He released my mouth only to take my arm firmly and drag me toward the threshold of his apartment. It wasn’t rough, but a pure display of power; I was a leaf carried along by his current.

***

We entered his living room. The light was low, warm, and it smelled of leather and whiskey. Iván kicked the door shut, but didn’t lock it. He gently pushed me toward a tall table separating the kitchen from the living room and sat me on the edge, my legs dangling and my eyes level with his.

—Now that we’re on my territory, the rules change —he said, standing between my open thighs and forcing me to wrap my legs around his waist—. Here, the only volume I care about is the volume of your moans. But first I want to see how far your patience goes.

He slid his hands under my nightdress, this time with no barriers, and grabbed my ass with a force that tore a muffled cry from me. His fingers sank into my flesh, claiming me. Then, with infuriating slowness, he began rubbing the center of my wetness, barely brushing my clit through the lace of my underwear.

—Tell me you want it —he demanded, pinning me with his stare—. Tell me you’ve been fantasizing about the noisy neighbor doing this to you since the first day you saw me in the elevator.

—Iván… —I managed, my head falling back as my body began to tremble—. Please…

—Please what? Please stop? Or please give you what you deserve? —He bent and bit my earlobe, a sharp pain that turned into a rush of lust—. You’re going to spend the rest of the night trying not to wake the neighbors. Because if I hear you scream even once before I allow it, the game’s over. Understood?

I could only nod, hypnotized by the authority pouring off him. Iván smiled, a smile full of dark promises, and yanked down my underwear, letting it fall to the floor like a trophy. I was exposed, open for him, under the light of his living room, knowing that at any moment he could decide to send me back out into the hall or leave me there trembling, waiting for his next order.

***

He didn’t waste any time. With a sharp movement he lifted me off the table, but not to free me. He forced me to turn around and pressed my chest against the cold, polished wood surface. My arms stretched out in front of me while he, one firm hand at the nape of my neck, pushed me until my hips lifted, offered up to his mercy.

—Stay like that —he ordered, and the chill in his voice contrasted with the heat of his body against my back—. I want you to feel the weight of your own decision. You came looking for the noisy neighbor and you found him. Now you’re going to learn what discipline is.

I heard the metal of his belt as he unfastened it. The jingle was a slap of reality that made my thighs clench. I was bent over in his living room, with the door not quite closed, knowing that any footsteps in the hall could expose my disgrace, or my greatest glory. Iván took his time. He traced the curve of my ass with the back of his hand, a slow caress that ended in a hard, ringing smack.

The scream rose in my throat, but I remembered his warning and smothered it by biting my lip until I tasted blood.

—Good instinct —he whispered, and I felt his hot breath on the small of my back—. But it’s not enough.

I felt his fingers, slicked with my own desire, begin to play at my entrance. He wasn’t after immediate pleasure; he was reminding me that every millimeter of my body was under his jurisdiction. He leaned over me, his chest crushing my back, and with his free hand he grabbed my hair, pulling my head back so my face was exposed in the entryway mirror.

—Look at yourself —he demanded—. Look at the face you make while your neighbor prepares you like you’re an object. That’s the face of a woman who stopped being in charge.

In the mirror I saw my dilated eyes, my flushed cheeks, my mouth parted, searching for an oxygen he seemed to have stolen from me. It was a strange and exciting image: the perfect neighbor, the one who always followed the rules, submitted by the man who broke them all. Iván slipped in one finger, then two, with a firmness that made me arch my back and let out a muffled moan against the table.

—You’re so drenched it’s hard to believe you didn’t come up here sooner —he taunted, increasing the friction—. But tonight you’re not the one setting the pace. You’re going to endure every thrust and thank me for every second of this punishment.

He let go of my hair and positioned himself behind me. The hardness of his body against my back made me understand that foreplay was over. I was about to be claimed in a way that would make any earlier noise seem like a whisper.

—Remember what we agreed —he growled, his voice rumbling against my back like distant thunder—. Not one sound.

Without further preamble he drove into me in one deep thrust. The impact was such that my chest slammed against the wood and my nails scraped the polished surface. A scream tried to escape, but I buried my face in my own arm and strangled it into a silent sob. The feeling of fullness was overwhelming; he claimed me with a force that dismantled every trace of my polite neighbor identity.

He began to move, setting an unrelenting pace. Every thrust was a lesson in authority. He wasn’t seeking harmony; he was seeking conquest. His hips struck mine with a dry sound that, in the house’s sepulchral silence, seemed amplified.

—Like that —he whispered, leaning over me, his sweat dripping onto my shoulders—. That’s how I want you to take me in. Open and silent, like a good neighbor.

Suddenly a sound from the hall froze my blood: heavy footsteps and the clink of keys. It was the neighbor from the adjoining apartment, an older, nosy man who always watched for any anomaly on the landing. Iván heard him perfectly, but instead of stopping he treated it as a challenge. His thrusts turned faster, deeper, forcing me to fight the violent pleasure threatening to make me explode in a cry that would give us away.

—Do you hear him? —he hissed in my ear, his hand tangling in my hair again—. Mr. Rivas is right out there. If you let out even one moan, he’ll open the door and see us. He’ll see me taking you like this, on my table, as if you were mine.

The risk was a drug. Feeling him invade me with that ferocity while the possibility of scandal hovered only a few feet away drove me into a state of delirium. My muscles clenched around him in involuntary spasms and I felt the orgasm rising from the deepest part of my belly. It was a wave of fire I couldn’t hold back. Iván noticed; his thrusts became frantic, his breathing a restrained roar.

—Hold on… —he ordered, his voice thick with urgency—. Hold it for me!

I bit my lip until pain was the only thing keeping me from screaming his name. The footsteps stopped in front of his door for one endless second and then continued toward the other apartment. In that moment of relief, the tension snapped and my body convulsed in a violent climax that left me sightless, while he possessed me with one final thrust that sealed my surrender.

***

My legs were still trembling when he made me stand up from the table. The air in the living room hit my damp skin, but the reprieve lasted a second. His desire seemed to feed on my exhaustion. He took my arm, with that mix of firmness and possession I had already accepted as my new reality, and led me toward the large living room window.

—The inner courtyard has excellent acoustics, Marina —he whispered, opening the glass pane only slightly. The night air slipped in with a low whistle—. And from here, any of the other windows could be watching.

He pushed me against the cold glass and made me place my palms on the transparent surface. Outside, the lights from the neighboring apartments formed a mosaic of shadows. I was naked, exposed to the void, with Iván covering my back like an armor of warm flesh.

—Look at them —he ordered, circling my neck with one hand, not to squeeze, but to remind me that my head moved only if he decided it should—. All those neighbors you worry about. There they are, asleep, oblivious to the fact that their model neighbor is out here undone, surrendered to the man she hated an hour ago.

He positioned himself behind me again, but this time there was no immediate entry. He pulled a silk scarf from his pocket and, with a dexterity that made me shiver, blindfolded me. Absolute darkness plunged me into a world where only the touch of his hands and the sound of my own ragged breathing existed. Losing my sight made the cold glass against my breasts and the heat of his body brushing my ass multiply a thousandfold.

—Now you can’t see who’s looking at you —he hissed in my ear—. You can only feel what I’m going to do to you. And every time you feel the cold air, you’ll remember that you’re in plain view.

He dropped his hands to my ankles and forced my legs apart more than my balance allowed. I felt something cold and vibrating slip between my thighs, a small toy that began to buzz rhythmically against my clit. The contrast between the mechanical vibration and the heat of his other hand, which was now exploring my insides with two hungry fingers, tore a sob from me.

—Iván, someone’s going to see me! —I panted, my forehead hitting the glass.

—That’s the punishment, Marina. The fear of being seen is what keeps you alive —he answered, increasing the intensity of the vibration—. Now you’re going to tell me what you are. You’re going to tell the night and all those neighbors behind the windows.

—I’m… I’m yours —I moaned, losing the battle against the blindfold and the darkness.

—Louder. Let the courtyard hear it if it wants.

—I’m yours, Iván! I’m your neighbor and I’m at your mercy!

He laughed, a low triumphant laugh, before removing the toy and replacing it with his own hardness in a thrust that made me slide against the glass. The domination was total: blindfolded, exposed, and trembling under the command of a man who knew no mercy. He took me in front of the courtyard abyss, setting a rhythm that made the window vibrate against my hands, turning me into the most beautiful and forbidden noise in the entire building.

His thrusts became short and fast, designed not to give me slow pleasure but to drive me into total frenzy. I was lost in a labyrinth of sensations: the cold glass against my forehead, the night air on my back, and Iván’s searing fire breaking my will from within.

—You’re going to come now —he decreed with an authority that admitted no argument—. But you’re going to do it without screaming. You’re going to swallow every moan, you’re going to bite your tongue if you have to, but I want your climax to be a secret only my ears can claim.

He increased the pace to an unbearable point. My muscles tightened, my belly became a knot of ecstasy and I felt the first wave climbing my legs. It was delicious torture. He hit me with surgical precision, searching for the exact point that would make me break.

—Now! —he growled.

The world exploded. My nails scraped the glass and my knees gave way, but he held me tightly, keeping me upright while my body convulsed in a silent, violent climax. I bit my arm desperately, stifling a scream that would have woken half the building. Tears of pleasure dampened the blindfold while Iván, with one final muffled roar, emptied himself inside me, sealing his claim in the darkness of his living room.

***

Silence returned to the living room with an almost physical heaviness, broken only by the echo of our ragged breathing. Iván held me against the glass a few seconds longer, letting my body absorb the magnitude of my surrender. My legs were jelly and the cold sweat made me shake, but the warmth of his chest against my back was the only thing keeping me standing.

With deliberate slowness he untied the blindfold. The dim light hit my eyes and I blinked as my sight returned. The reflection in the window gave me back an image I didn’t recognize: swollen lips, hair in a nest, skin marked by his fingers and by the scrape of the glass.

He turned me so I faced him. He showed no trace of fatigue; his dark eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of someone who has conquered difficult territory. With his thumb he wiped away a tear sliding down my cheek.

—Look at you, Marina —he whispered, his voice regaining that velvet, commanding tone—. Whatever happened to the neighbor who came to lecture me about behavior?

I couldn’t answer. I lowered my head, but he took my jaw again, forcing me to hold his gaze.

—Tomorrow, when we cross paths in the elevator, you’ll be wearing your office clothes and your serious face —he continued, a sly smile appearing on his face—. But under those clothes you’ll feel the sting of my marks. And every time you hear a noise in my apartment, no matter how small, you’ll remember how you felt tonight. You’ll remember that you belong to me.

He bent down, picked my lace underwear up from the floor, and slipped it into his pocket with a gesture that sealed his victory.

—I’m keeping this —he said—. It’s my deposit. If you want it back, you know where I live. But don’t come knocking on my door to complain again. If you knock, it’ll be to get down on your knees.

He let me go and walked to the door, throwing it wide open. The hallway was empty and cold, lit by the antiseptic glow of the motion sensor. He handed me the silk robe and personally draped it over my shoulders, hiding my nakedness but not my submission.

—Go to sleep, neighbor —he ordered, giving my hip one last soft but possessive smack—. Try not to make a sound going inside. You wouldn’t want the neighbors to think anything has changed, would you?

I walked across the landing like an automaton, feeling the cold air between my legs and the pulse of desire still alive. I entered my apartment and closed the door, pressing my forehead against the wood. Through the wall I heard Iván turn the music back up, just a little, just enough for me to know he was still there, ruling over the silence and over me.

The punishment was over, but I knew, while I touched my still-burning lips, that my freedom had stayed in the apartment across the hall. And that tomorrow I would be the one looking for any excuse to be punished again.