Season of Surprise Ch. 01

Friday: How can I not love Jonathan this soon?

After work Friday, Kyla arrived home just in time to say a quick farewell to Leslie who was going home for the weekend. She requested the use of her flatmate's apron. She ran down to Jonathan's flat and, when she realized he wasn't yet home, taped a note to his door, telling him what time dinner was. Unwilling to be experimental at the best of times, Kyla knew she'd be testing her luck if she could even pull off a known dinner when her nerves were so strained. Luckily, the pasta was only slightly mushy by the time the chicken was ready, and she poured on extra sauce. She hoped Jonathan would be so distracted he wouldn't notice.

The bell rang as she finished making a Caesar salad with store-bought croutons. As she opened the door, in wafted his distinctive scent of wine and soap and bread.

If it was just the apron, Jonathan thought he could have handled it. Perhaps not in his heightened state, but he always strove to believe the best in people, and in this case he included himself. It was her attitude. She was a bit hesitant in her greeting, subdued to be exact, and her mild uncertainty felt more in keeping with her statements of sexual innocence. The immediate wish to protect her fused with his longing to possess her, and he could think of nothing but becoming one with her. With a gentle but probing kiss, he felt her concern. He wrapped her in his arms, fighting his instincts as she was fighting hers, then whispered, "I want you more than anything, but I accept that the invitation only said dinner."

They ate as they watched a movie, which made so little an impression on them that two days later, neither could remember which film they'd seen. She kissed him as the credits rolled, certain at least of that gesture, but her body was more certain than her mind, and soon the pair was flushed and breathless. It was only the thought of Kyla's flatmate coming in at an embarrassing time that prevented Jonathan from stripping the object of his affection and plunging his aching member inside her. "Leslie?" He panted.

"Home for the weekend."

And he understood that, for whatever reason, she couldn't voice her request. He stood up and pulled her with him. It was only his inability to remove his lips from hers that prevented him from running to the bedroom. He shuffled there, once bumping into a wall, but eventually feeling the bed behind his knees. He fell back and carried her with him, making her gasp and moan as she rubbed her body against his. Jonathan couldn't tell whether his greater need was to discard her clothing or his own. His jeans were unmercifully tight in his current state, but her apparel was even more of a restraint. He removed her t-shirt, her jeans, her socks; finally there was a comparable sea of skin which was the outlet of his worship. He touched her everywhere, with hands that glided and stroked and squeezed, and his world was complete when she pulled off his shirt and undid his pants. His erection sprang into her waiting hands where she fondled him with increasing boldness as he responded to her touch through his boxer-briefs.

Jonathan wriggled out of his pants until his legs could press next to hers, when she started running her toes up his calves while her hands did wonderful things to his often-overlooked testicles. It wasn't long before neither was satisfied with the current clothing coverage and Jonathan removed her bra with his teeth while Kyla slipped a hand inside the waistband of his underwear. She had trouble concentrating on her own caresses as Jonathan teased her breasts beyond any point she thought she could sanely bear. His mouth and hands felt insatiable and she rewarded him with staccato cries until he shifted position and she focused on his body rather than her own. When his sighs and groans calmed, and indicated that he'd grown accustomed to her ministrations, she licked her lips and lowered her head and enveloped his penis in her mouth. Without completely moving her, Jonathan shifted Kyla so that he was able to take off her soaked underwear and add his tongue to the most sensitive part of her anatomy.

He would not have believed her to be a virgin at that moment. She was sucking and licking with more skill than he'd imagined possible with her level of experience. It was true perhaps, that men were easier to please than women, but he was quite discriminatory when he compared her to former lovers. When Jonathan knew he was near explosion, he pulled away an acquiescing Kyla. He rolled her underneath him and lowered himself, testing her opening. He'd only sunk an inch when her face contorted and blanched with pain. The gesture forced his rational caution, and made him begin to question why she seemed so unlike herself this evening, why she had said so little and followed him so simply. The thoughts had barely formed before her chasm lured him closer again, and he pushed a little farther. Her eyes were too wide, too blank. They lacked the vitality he loved about her. He pulled out again, kissed her, and slid once more inside her, two inches, perhaps more. Was there something he could say that would reassure her, relax her, make it easier for her to take him in? "I love you."

That wasn't it.

Her body went all tense like the moment before orgasm, but it was cold rather than hot, and she cried, "Stop!" and tried to push him away. His surprised allowed her to dislodge him easily, and she scrambled over him, kneeing his erection and smacking his face before she landed on her floor, panting. "How could you do that?"

"Do what?" "I thought I could do this, but I can't, especially with you like this."

"Do what? Like what?"

Tears cascaded down her cheeks and she covered her face with her hands. "Please leave," she whispered. "I can't be your lover. You should find someone else."

"What? I want you."

"You can't have me."

Jonathan stood up and approached her. Experience and training told him that if she let him approach, she was willing to talk. If not, he had only hope and time as his aids. He succeeded in placing his arms around her. One thing at a time. He held her until she loosened. "Can you tell me why it's worse to become lovers if I'm in love with you?"

"I thought I was ready to abandon my innocence, and you are the person I wanted as my first, but I wanted it to be more casual. I don't think I can be with you if I love you. I'm not going to want to let you go in September. And that's not part of our original deal, and it screws with my schoolwork and your previous experience."

Jonathan nodded and prepared his response. "I respect you too much to give you fake answers. We need to think about this, then compare notes. What do you want to do until then?" Anything but make me go home, anything but make me go home.

"I think I'd like some time to myself. Can we talk about this Sunday evening, maybe?"

He nodded, proud that none of his disappointment cracked through. He dressed, kissed her on the forehead and left.

Part 5

Sunday night, they had another cooking lesson. It was awkward at first, but halfway through the mashed potatoes, they fell back into their old rhythms and remembered their friendship. The easy teasing returned, and the laughter flowed comfortably. Fortified with good food and better pie, the negotiations began.

"Your timing is better with food than people."

Jonathan's spontaneous chuckle warmed Kyla's heart.

"Of all the ways I imagined we'd start this discussion, that's not one of them."

"I wish this had happened once we were both finished school."

"But it didn't."

"So we have to work with that. I don't think I can have just a taste of you, then give you up." She trailed her fingers up his thigh.

"That might be the same for me."

"Theoretically – what could be done so that you don't worry about me being faithful?"

He shrugged. There was no guarantee, but he already knew that Kyla had more honour than Elizabeth would ever have. "Talking often on the phone, knowing your friends, visiting every weekend." He could see that his last suggestion had made her eyes widen in concern. "Although you need your weekends for schoolwork, and that's when I have my tournaments. Theoretically – what could be done so that you have all the time you need for your homework?"

"Phoning only when I have free time and visiting no more than once a month."

Jonathan was nodding slowly, his lips a grim line. "There's no immediate solution, is there?"

Kyla shook her head. "Maybe we could visit for weekends if we promised to work all day and only play at night. Whoever's work is more portable could travel."

"We could talk two or three times a week, but not for long if you have an assignment."

"This is hardly a long-distance relationship, since we'll only be about an hour apart by train, but what if it doesn't work?"

"Anything can work if you want it to, if we both want it enough."

The risk was on both sides, but he knew Kyla's consent before she gave it.

"Well then, it sounds like we're going steady." She examined Jonathan closely. "But I think in order to use that term, you need a mullet and I need polka-dotted spandex."

They went out and celebrated their new status with several games of pool, but the emotional exhaustion of the weekend played its part, forcing them home early where they collapsed together in Jonathan's bed.

Kyla woke as the sun started streaming through Jonathan's window. It was still early, but she felt rejuvenated. It was the start of a new level of their relationship, as well as the start of a new month. She was shocked that she'd re-met Jonathan only one month ago – it seemed like either far less or far more time had passed. She watched him sleeping and felt her desire mounting until she slid her hands closer to him and began rubbing his already-erect penis. He mumbled something, and swam closer to wakefulness. She breathed his name and started kissing him with the passion of certainty. Grogginess still clung to him, forcing her into the primary role, and her confidence grew as she set the pace. She had made short work of the boxers he wore to sleep while his surprise and confusion added to his disorientation. They had to work in three hours, and he knew she didn't conform to his expectations, but this was truly outside of anything he'd fantasized. It was lacking the slow buildup he'd anticipated, with dinner and candles and music. It was no ordinary seduction, but what it missed in romanticism, it countered with heat and intensity.

She felt the moment he really came awake and returned her embrace. "Oh, Jonathan," she whispered, then licked the ridge of his ear, nibbled the lobe and kissed her way down his neck and chest. Her hands had dropped lower and were massaging their way back up his legs; when lips and tongue and palms and fingers met at the centre of his body, he nearly went into overload and wondered desperately how he could contain himself until she was ready. Gathering all his self-control, he pulled her up until she was in line with him, then kissed her purposefully while his hands brought her all the pleasure they could. He hesitated to reach for ground zero, not trusting his reading of her and not wanting to stop the excruciating luxury of her touch. He dropped his lips to her skin – could he ever get enough? – and groaned himself when he heard her moan. How could he control himself if she was encouraging him to bring other expressions of abandon to her lips?

"I want you." It came out as nearly a growl.

"So why are you waiting?"

It took half a second for the comment to penetrate, and that same amount again before he'd removed her underwear in a single, fluid gesture. Kyla thought he'd plunge in – foreplay rarely lasted the month that they'd spent – but it was his tongue that touched her first as his fingers carefully held back the outer lips. She gasped and struggled for air, but lost the battle when his hands slid up her body to tease her breasts. Whenever she had the breath, she cried out his name, until finally, nearly beyond reason, she begged him to come inside her. Unable to resist such appeals, he moved up her body until his penis brushed her vulva. Her entrance was almost painfully tight for him, and he could see by her grimace that it was worse for her. Her breathing had changed, it was still shallow, but now he could see that it was firmly controlled. If he'd had any unconscious doubts about her sexual inexperience, they were extinguished. She felt tighter than anyone he'd been with. He slowly extracted himself.

The momentary relief allowed her another instant to still her breath. She knew that relaxing would make it less painful, but the alien feeling in so sensitive a part of her body made her tense. She guided him in again, a little bit further, and whispered, "Kiss me." She mellowed with the comforting feeling of his lips against hers, and he slid deeper into her. She closed her eyes. Every move ached, but she knew he was being as gentle as possible. Would it always feel like this? Why was it that the first time had to be so painful?

Jonathan could see a single tear in the corner of her eye and felt the shame of his penetration. How hard it was to be the agent of pain for someone he loved. "I'm sorry."

She opened her eyes. "I'm not."

He kissed her again, and whispered how much he loved her. He pulled out, then in a continuous movement entered her fully. Her body was adjusting slightly; the blinding pain had been replaced by something more manageable. She tilted her pelvis slightly and gasped at the difference in sensation. So slight a change made a surprising change in the amount of pain. She breathed more easily, and urged him to continue his thrusting. The new position allowed him to accelerate the pace, and soon he could feel the heat concentrating in his body. His thrusts became harder and deeper and his breathing erratic. His body tightened before his essence overflowed into her and he collapsed momentarily. "So what do you think?" He asked when he'd caught his breath. "Do you want to do it again?"

"Are you free today at five?"

* * *

Two months of heat followed, during which they were as enchanted with each other in bed as out. There were endless things to do in summertime, with street fairs and amusement parks, beaches, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, rollerblading, movies, pool, and each other. Meeting each other's family, which they did over the last two weekends of June, was a nerve-wracking but ultimately pleasant activity. July was even hotter, a combination of the weather, their increased closeness and their decreased time together due to Jonathan's weekend football matches. They were both becoming more comfortable sexually, confidence allowing them to experiment, and the temperature forcing them to become more creative since it was too hot to have too much of their bodies pressed against each other.

The first day of August arrived and Jonathan returned to his flat to find Kyla already there. She was staring out the window and when Jonathan put his arms around her, she jumped. Deep in thought, she hadn't heard him come in.

"Something up?"

"My professor just indicated today how highly he thinks of me."

Jonathan got up, went to his kitchen and brought them back drinks. "How did he do that?"

"By asking me to be his research assistant when he goes to study fish on the Italian Riviera."

"That's wonderful! When would you go? Next week, or the last week of August? He's left it a bit late, hasn't he?"

"We'd be going from September to May."

Jonathan's mouth formed a small 'o.'

"He wants my answer on Monday."

"It's an opportunity you shouldn't pass up." Was that his voice, sounding so controlled and supportive?

The uncertainty of the future made them cling to the present, and they allowed the passion of the moment to engulf them. As they lay spent and naked, except for their socks, Kyla held tight to Jonathan, ignoring the heat and sweat between them. She squeezed her eyes shut as she asked, "Do you think we could make it through the year?"

Jonathan embraced her equally tightly. "I don't want to let you go."

"I don't want to give you up, either," she said, pulling herself even tighter to him.

With his arms around her, the decision was ridiculously easy. "If we're still together the day you get back from Italy, I'll propose."

End of Segment 1