My Neighbor Watched Me, and That Afternoon She Set the Rules

The city had been burning for a full week. It was one of those summers when the asphalt gives the heat back at night and the air inside the apartment stays still, thick, impossible to breathe. My apartment is an interior loft, one single open space with no view of the street, so since I moved in I picked up a habit: at home, I go naked. No clothes, no underwear. In that heat, any fabric on my skin was torture.

I had only been in the building for a couple of months. I was alone, freshly out of a long relationship, and my sex life had been reduced to myself and the screen of my phone at odd hours. I’d gotten used to moving around the loft without shame, convinced that nobody could see me. The only high window looked out onto the inner gallery, and from the building across the way I could only be seen from the waist up when I went out to hang laundry.

That morning I went out to hang up a couple of T-shirts, without bothering to cover myself. And then I heard her.

—Good morning, neighbor! —Her voice came from the gallery opposite.

It was her. Mariela. She lived just across the courtyard, a woman who was around forty and had caught my eye from the first day. She wasn’t a magazine beauty, but she had something hard to name: a permanent half-smile, full lips, and a gaze that seemed mischievous and innocent at the same time. She dressed with a care that drew attention, and under those clothes you could make out a body that kept me up at night.

—Damn, it’s scorching! —she said, as she hung out her own laundry—. I don’t know where to put myself.

—Honestly, I don’t even dare go out into the street —I answered—. Here, with everything shut, it’s bearable enough.

—I’d love to be able to wander around the house as cool as you do.

I stayed silent for a second. I thought she meant my bare torso, the only thing she could see from her side. But that smile, the way she looked at me sideways, made me doubt it.

—Well —I said, trying to sound calm—, nobody can see me in here, and with this heat you allow yourself certain things.

—I can see you.

She said it just like that, without stopping what she was doing, as if she were commenting on the weather. And before I could react, she added:

—Maybe you don’t know it, but the apartment above mine, even though it’s empty, is mine too. I like going up there. It’s a little cooler.

I froze, with a T-shirt half hung in my hands.

—See you later, neighbor. Bye.

—Bye —I managed to mutter.

***

I closed the gallery door and leaned against the wall, heart racing. I started putting the pieces together. From the apartment above the one across the way, a little higher up, you could see almost all of my loft. Not just my torso. Everything. The bed, the sofa, the open kitchen. Every corner of my one and only room.

If she went up to that apartment, she had seen me completely. And not once. Every time she wanted.

My God. She’s seen everything.

I masturbated often, sometimes in front of a screen, sometimes just with my imagination, stretched out on the sofa with no shame because I thought I was invisible. And suddenly I understood that maybe I had never been invisible at all. That woman with the half-smile may have been on the other side of the courtyard, in the dim light, watching me while I thought I was alone.

The curious thing is that the idea didn’t embarrass me. Quite the opposite. I’ve always had a bit of an exhibitionist streak, and the possibility of having been watched lit me up in a way I hadn’t expected. I’m in shape, I go running, I hit the gym almost every day, and the idea that she might have seen me fit and aroused made me hard in a matter of seconds.

I glanced sideways toward the high window of the apartment opposite. It seemed to me that the curtain moved. I wasn’t sure. I’d never really paid attention, because I’d been told that apartment was empty. But now every shadow seemed to make sense.

And then the opposite doubt hit me. What if it bothered her? What if all this time she’d been uncomfortable, putting up with a neighbor strutting around naked without knowing he had an audience? My erection went down at once. I thought about giving up the habit, about getting dressed once and for all, about apologizing.

I spent a long while turning it over, sitting on the edge of the bed. In the end I made a decision. I put on shorts and a T-shirt, went out into the landing, and rang her doorbell. Her place was right next to mine, adjoining, separated by barely a meter of wall.

***

She opened the door with a huge smile.

—Hi, neighbor!

She was dressed, yes, but with very little on: tiny, tight shorts and a sleeveless top. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and you could make out firm breasts, neither big nor small, perfect. Out of the corner of my eye I dropped my gaze for an instant and lifted it again, ashamed of my own look.

—I came to apologize —I said in one breath—. I’m not really sure how to say this. I didn’t know the apartment above was yours. I thought nobody could see me at home, and I like walking around… well, without clothes. Maybe I made you uncomfortable and…

—Please —she cut in, leaning against the doorframe—, you don’t have to apologize for anything. I understand perfectly. We’re adults. It’s true that I’ve seen you from above, but it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

—Thanks. I was worried I’d put you in an awkward spot. I won’t walk around naked again, I promise.

—You haven’t put me in any awkward spot —she said, and her half-smile turned a little darker—. In fact, lately I go up to clean that apartment more than I should. As far as I’m concerned, you can go naked all day. You have a beautiful body and it’s very nice to look at you.

I swallowed. I didn’t know what to answer.

—But come in for a moment —she added—. I don’t like talking about these things in the hallway.

I went in. She closed the door behind me with a calm that made me nervous.

—Yes, I’ve seen you —she said, facing me—. And believe me when I tell you that more than once I thought it was a shame you had to take care of yourself alone. I’ve been a bit of a voyeur, I admit it. And I figured you don’t have a partner. So the one who should apologize is me.

I blushed all the way to my ears, but my body knew nothing about shame. Under my shorts, I was starting to stir again.

—I’m alone too —she continued, taking a step toward me—. And more than once I thought: what a waste. The neighbor jerking off over there and me fingering myself in my room. That couldn’t go on. I would have loved for you to see me too. Just imagining it would get me soaked.

She paused, gauging my reaction.

—But now there’s a much better solution.

***

She yanked her top off, never taking her eyes off mine. Her breasts were bared, and I smiled, relieved and hard at the same time. Then she pulled her shorts down slowly and stood completely naked a meter from me.

—Now you’ve seen all of me —she said—. We’re even.

What a body. Her skin was beaded with sweat from the heat, and she gave off a heavy scent, a mix of soft perfume and perspiration that hit me like a punch. Her shaved sex, with only a small triangle of hair, gleamed under the light coming through the half-closed blind.

I caught my breath, took off my T-shirt and shorts, and let her look at me. My erection was at full mast. When I’m really turned on, the head swells in a way that’s almost scandalous, and this was one of those moments.

—Now we are on equal footing —I said.

But she wasn’t looking for equality. She took me by the hand and led me to the living room. She sat on the sofa and, when I made a move to settle down beside her, she stopped me. She grabbed both of my thighs with her hands and placed me standing right in front of her, like someone arranging a scene they’d had planned for a long time.

—Now I want you to look at me —she ordered.

She spread her legs and put both feet on the edge of the sofa, offering me a full view. Her lips were prominent, and between them her swollen clit could be made out. She slid her hands downward and started stroking herself, never taking her eyes off mine. Her breathing slowly grew more ragged.

She showed me her hand, shiny, soaked. The smell reached me and I had to clench my fists not to lunge at her. But she was in charge there, and she’d made that clear without saying a single extra word.

—Now you can see me up close —she whispered—. Do you like it?

—It’s the best show of my life.

She lifted her hips and drew her legs back, putting her sex and everything else front and center. And her feet. Those perfect feet, arched, suspended in the air at face level.

I couldn’t resist. I took them in my hands and started licking her toes, one by one. She jolted and a moan escaped her throat while she kept touching herself.

I kissed the tops of her feet, her ankles, never taking my eyes off her. She held my gaze with that half-smile now broken apart by pleasure, her legs spreading wider and wider. I kept to her feet, sucking them and smelling them, that salty edge of sweat that drove me crazy. My sex was burning, but I didn’t touch it. This had to last as long as possible.

She came with a long shudder, a small tremor that shook her all over. She closed her eyes, threw her head back and trembled. I had only touched her feet, and it was already better than a lot of fucks I remembered.

***

She opened her eyes, took me by the hand, and made me sit down beside her.

—I wanted you to see me like this —she said, still breathless—. I’ve watched you so many times, and I’ve enjoyed it like a madwoman. Now I’m not ashamed to admit it to you at all. No one had ever kissed my feet like you. It had been years since I came like this.

She let me savor the moment for only a few seconds. Then her voice changed again, firm, in control of the situation.

—Now, please, touch yourself for me.

She made me lie back facing her, on the sofa. It wasn’t part of my plan, but the mistress of ceremonies was her and she was directing the scene with a confidence that disarmed me. I grabbed my erection and started stroking the head slowly, holding back, not wanting to finish yet. She watched me with the tip of her tongue peeking between her lips, holding herself back as well.

She was sitting sideways, legs slightly parted, her wet sex still on display. She lightly stroked her nipples and moved her eyes from my face to my hand and back again. I wasn’t going to last much longer. My balls were starting to ache from all that pent-up need.

She seemed to notice. Just when I thought I was going to explode, she pulled my hands away.

She got down on her knees on the sofa, without going to the floor, and brought her face to my crotch with that slow smile. She stuck out her tongue and brought it near my balls, but she didn’t touch me. She tormented me, stretching out the moment, forcing me to raise my knees until I was completely exposed in front of her.

At last she gave the base a long lick, and I shuddered all over. The second went higher and came back down again. I was out of my mind, on the edge of something I couldn’t hold in. She gripped me at the base with one hand, squeezing, and kept licking, getting closer and closer to the exact point.

By the third lick I couldn’t take it anymore. I exploded with a force that even surprised me, and she didn’t pull away. She took it all calmly, patiently, until I was empty and gleaming. I was left without strength, collapsed into the cushions, breathing as if I’d run ten kilometers.

She lay down on top of me, kissed my neck, and spoke in my ear.

—I had imagined it like this, and it was even better. I’ve watched you so many times while you touched yourself that it felt like I’d known you all my life.

—Please —I said, still out of breath—, let me fuck you. I haven’t even really touched you yet.

She sat up a little, looked down at me with that half-smile still intact, and slowly shook her head.

—Good things are worth waiting for. You’ve seen it yourself, you have no idea how badly I want to have you inside me. And I want you to eat me out until you’re exhausted. But not today. —She leaned in again to my ear—. Today you only have to keep walking around your house naked, so I can see you from my window, imagining the next chapter.

And I knew, without any doubt, that from then on, every time I crossed my loft naked, I’d do it knowing I was being watched. Exactly the way she wanted.