Katha

"Oops! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to back into you."

"That's okay. I hope you didn't miss the shot," I said. She was setting up still shots of Roman artifacts at an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum.

Over coffee I discovered that Katha was spending a post-graduate year in Naples at an archaeological dig. As I was about to sail with 600 college students on a round-the-world voyage that would stop in Naples, we agreed to meet when my ship landed there.

I wrote from Amsterdam to tell her exactly when I would arrive and that I had responsibilities the first day we were in port. Could we have breakfast the next morning?

I had no photo of her, so I let my memory tease me about what she looked like. I remembered brown hair, intensely focused brown eyes, and soft arms and hands. I allowed myself to create a soft mouth and a wanton tongue.

There was a letter from Katha waiting for me in the purser's office when we docked. She would be at dockside at 8 a.m. tomorrow and we could have breakfast in a café she knew.

"Katha! It's terrific that you even remembered me!"

"Well, a gentleman who doesn't knock over a girl's tripod has some standing where I come from."

October in Italy is lovely and she was too. Her floppy hat couldn't conceal her tanned oval face. I had been right about her eyes. Her sandals showed her feet off well while her jeans and blouse displayed her good posture and smallish breasts.

"Can I take you to the dig? It's nothing much, but it has some really good examples of first century household pottery and mosaics."

We rode the rickety local bus drove down the coastline for about an hour to the site. At the time of Christ a landslide destroyed a large house on the hillside. Forgotten even when a local road was built very close to it, the house had been rediscovered about ten years ago and was now being excavated.

"We're very Spartan here," she said. "Just two tents and a lockable shed. Anything bigger than a pea gets looked at. If it seems interesting, I give it over to Dr. Simeon for him and the staff to review and photograph. They sort and classify things that look interesting. The shed holds the tools and a place for the night watchman to stay, since even now there are thieves who will steal anything."

Katha introduced me to Dr. Simeon, a Belgian whose fascination with Italian archaeology was unfortunately lost to me due to his heavily-accented English. Katha's enthusiasm for the work, on the other hand, came through as she showed me pieces of pottery that, in her hands, told a story of a household and its time.

We went back to Naples and she leisurely showed me several of the classic city sites. As it got toward sunset and we were eating dinner, she asked me how much longer the ship was going to be in port.

"We sail tomorrow night at 2200. I have to be back on board by 2030."

"If you'd like to see some of the countryside, I can take tomorrow off."

"It's not going to interfere with your job?"

"No, I'm cheap labor here. I'm already accepted at Brown next year in archaeology, so this job is for experience. It's slow going and I may have a day's work even if I'm not there for four. So I can certainly afford two days off."

"Then I'd love nothing more than having you teach me about Naples."

"Come on, then, I want you to see the Bay."

Byron and many others have praised the Bay of Naples. And I'm sure there are better views than the one Katha showed me. But where we stood had the virtue of being in twilight, visible from a small tavern, and exposed to me first by this woman. It was also only a three-block walk to her small room, where she took me next.

"I don't get to speak English too much any more, Peter. In fact, it's really nice to speak American again."

Located in an old neighborhood, the room was nothing special except for the fact that the morning sunlight would be dazzling. The furnishings were a double bed, an armoire, a chair and desk, and a threadbare rug. The bathroom was in the hall.

"How did you find this room?"

"Romeo, the head excavator, owns the house and rents the room to the dig, so I don't have to pay anything. I can cook on the sterno stove, but it's just nicer to eat like Italians: bread, cheese, fish, olive oil, and wine. Romeo and his family have had me to dinner a couple of times."

And we kissed. Katha was warm, needy, and so willing. She nuzzled my thick beard and ran her fingers through my unruly black hair. She grabbed my ass and pulled it to her, slowly gyrating against me, pressing my cock hard against her.

I moved to undress her slowly. With her blouse gone, she shrugged off her bra, revealing breasts larger than I had expected. I appreciated her well-developed upper arms and shoulders that showed the effects of lifting boxes of screened dirt away from the sifters.

Her hips were slim and her legs were firm; her thighs and pubic triangle were very inviting. As I finished taking her second leg out of her jeans, I put it over my shoulder and gently lapped at her pussy. She grabbed my shoulder to steady herself, pressing her hips into my face. Her shiver and slight moan was all the encouragement I needed.

I leaned her over the edge of the bed and continued working on her pussy. She had been moist when I started and now, as I moved to her clit, she became wet. She wiggled and gave out encouraging moans as I worked her with my tongue and finger.

My jaw was nearly exhausted.

I took her pussy out of my mouth, kissed her thigh, and stood her up.

Naked Katha then took control of my clothes, first my pants and underwear, then shoes, socks, and finally my shirt. When she had me nude before her, she stood back and admired her handiwork.

"You are a hairy one! I'm glad I like that."

We grabbed each other and she pressed her hips into me. We struggled blindly to the edge of the bed, kissing and touching.

It was less a bed than a thickly padded bench, but its width allowed two people to cavort easily. We took full advantage and chased each other around for a little bit. Katha soon pulled me down beside her and began nipping at my nipples. With one hand she played with my balls, tongued and licked my nipple, and let the other hand set up the second nipple.

While that was exciting, I wanted to work her pussy, so I slid down between her legs. Her smallish bush was still wet and now had that musky smell I loved. My jaw still ached but my fingers were ready, so I ran around her opening slowly, darting in and out, hunting for and finding those small spots that sent her off. Again and again, she moaned appreciatively and showed me where to please her.

When she climaxed she pushed me away and worked her clit with her finger. I was a spectator as she stroked in and out with her fingers, using her thumb on her clit. The wave of her orgasm had her thrashing hips crashing on the bed.

"Wow, Peter, that was wonderful."

"I had a hand in it, but you really know your body. I nearly came just watching you."

"Was I that obvious? Being alone seems to have gotten to me."

We were facing each other, and she began stroking my side. Slowly she reached for my cock. She startled me with her hands, so rough from sorting rocks and pottery shards that I jumped.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just —"

"It's okay, I should have known —"

She shifted herself so she was sucking my cock. Her gentle lips and hard hands were an uncomfortable combination.

"Katha, is there a position you like more than others?"

"Yes, Peter, there is. Would you take me doggy style?"

And she knelt with her ass facing me. This position was my favorite because it gave me access to her anus as well as her pussy. Some girls don't like a man even touching their anus, though it is one of the most sensitive areas of their anatomy.

At first I swept my cockhead around her pussy from behind and fingered her with my left hand. Soon, though, she reached her right hand and located my cockhead at her pussy's opening. I was easing my way in when she said "touch me."

"Where?"

"Play with my asshole, take your finger around and dip it in occasionally. I like the combination."

There might have been a better position to do all of this, but Katha knew her body and sighed heavily as I found the right combination of rhythm and penetration. As I was coming she pushed her ass up at my finger and got the first knuckle completely into her.

When I squawked out that I was coming she grabbed me again with those hands. "Oh yes me too Peter cum cum cum!"

Katha usually got up at sunrise, so we made hasty love then. Afterward, completely unself-consciously, she paused at the window of her room in the early-morning light. That Neopolitan sun shining just right on this naked woman created ab unage that will stay with me forever.

We caught a bus to the hills over the city, walked in walled streets, lunched and laughed, and returned to her place by 5. I wanted to make love again, but she said no.

"Maybe we'll meet when we're back in the States. I have your address and you certainly know where I'll be in the fall. But I want to remember you as we were this afternoon."

And I returned to the ship.