A Death, Baked Bob, and the... Ch. 04

I bit my lip. Suddenly, Jess gave a smile. "It's okay," she said. You can laugh at that one."

I let go and Jess laughed too. I hugged her and started stroking her body. "I was kind of hoping," I said, "that you would wear these on our second date."

Jess chuckled. "Is this your way of asking me out on a second date?"

"I figured if you were willing to try on underwear for me, that a date wouldn't be that a big deal."

"When's this date going to happen?"

"You free tomorrow night?"

"Yep. Can I decide where we go?"

"Sure."

We stood there quietly for a few minutes. I was still hugging her from behind with my head on her shoulder, and Jess was looking at herself in the mirror.

"Do me a favor?" she asked. I looked into her eyes in the mirror and gave a small nod. "Stay with me tonight?"

"Sure," I said.

Jess went to the bathroom to change while I stripped down to my thong and bra and climbed onto the bed. When Jess came out of the bathroom she wore a long nightshirt with Snoopy on it. She kneeled at the side of the bed.

"This'll only take a minute."

I nodded and went back to reading the tattoo magazine. A minute later Jess climbed onto the bed and lay next to me. I looked at her and said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, I'm a natural blonde," she said, and smiled.

I smiled back. "Not that, stupid." Then I swallowed the lump in my throat and asked, "Why do you still pray?"

Jess' brow furrowed. "Because that's how I was raised."

"That's not…" I stopped and thought about how to better phrase my question. "I just figured religious was the last thing you'd be, after what your parents did to you."

Jess shook her head in a way that told me she'd been asked this before. "But my parents are the one's that did it to me, not religion. There are plenty of people out there who are religious and handle having a gay kid better than my folks did. Besides, I'm not going to go back on what I believe just because they had a fucked up view of it."

We were quiet for a few moments while I digested her point of view. Then she said, "So I guess you're not very religious."

"Not really, unless you consider music a denomination. My father taught me that people worry too much about what they can't see and not enough about what's right in front of their faces."

"That's one way of looking at it," Jess said as she cocked her head to the side. "So, are we going to have a deep discussion all night, or are you going to let me ravish you?"

I held up a finger. "One ravishing, please."

Jess laughed, and then leaned towards me so our foreheads and noses touched. She stayed there for a moment before moving in and kissing my lips. The soft touch of her skin actually made me feel warm inside, and reminded me of what I'd felt when I kissed her that morning after the first date. The kiss became more intimate (I was ready for the tongue stud this time) and our hands started exploring each other's bodies. Jess rolled me onto my back and climbed on top while continuing the kiss. Then she started kissing down the side of my face until she reached my neck, which she sucked on with her lips while her teeth pressed lightly against it. That drove me wild and I started moaning loudly. I could feel the wetness between my legs as I pressed them together.

After doing the same to the other side of my neck, Jess kissed her way down to my chest. She pressed her nose against a cup of my bra, moving it in slow circles. Then she put her mouth on the material and used her teeth to lightly graze the area. I could feel my nipple harden, and when Jess' teeth found it she gave it a few soft bites. The feeling of her doing this through the material was getting me good and worked up. Jess used her hands to slide the straps of my bra off my shoulders and slid it down. Then one of her hands moved between my legs and stated pressing against my sex while the tip of her tongue started licking around my nipple in slow circles, moving in until it flicked the hard nub of sensitive flesh. A low moan escaped me as she started teasing it, and I finally let go with a gasp when she sucked with her lips. While Jess gave the other one the same treatment she looked up at me, and our eyes met. I noticed the pain I'd seen there when we first met didn't seem as present. A mixture of desire and animal lust had replaced it, and suddenly I felt like I'd accomplished something that night.

Jess stopped toying with my nipple and sat up on her knees while her hands rubbed up and down on my stomach and sides. I had the urge to reach over and pull her nightshirt off, but I realized she might not be comfortable with me doing that. I reminded myself to take it slow, that her putting on the lingerie was a big step already. Jess' fingers were getting me excited, her light touch created a great feeling of anticipation of what was to come. She traced the edge of my belly button with her finger, then leaned down and traced it with her tongue.

I felt even more anticipation when I realized she'd soon be doing that to my pussy. My wait wasn't long as Jess crawled down and pulled my thong off. I lifted my legs to make it easier for her, but before I could bring them down she grabbed my ankles. Jess started with my left foot, licking and sucking on my toes and then the underside. She did the same to my right foot, her hand playing with the metal-link anklet I wore. Jess put my foot down and moved between my legs, her eyes intent on my cunt as she ran her hands on my crotch and slid her fingers over my lips. I spread my legs wide to give her better access.

"Oh yeah," I moaned. Jess looked up at me and smiled. That made me happy, but she never seemed to give a wide smile, teeth and everything. I'd have to work on that.

Her head went down and I felt her fingers spread me open. When Jess' tongue made contact I felt the softness I expected and a little hardness that I didn't. Then I remembered her tongue stud. The damn thing surprised me again. It was close to the tip of her tongue, and every time she licked I could feel it, which was great because the thing really added something. But Jess' style was sloppy, her tongue was all over the place, and it occurred to me she might be a little inexperienced. I wasn't going to complain though, because for me, feelings are more essential than sexual prowess. Knowing you're with someone you care about is more important at the beginning, while learning how to please each other in bed comes over time. Unless, of course, you're having a one-night stand.

But just because Jess was sloppy didn't mean she was failing at bringing me to orgasm. I was on my way up the ladder, and when she pushed a finger inside me I grabbed my legs behind my knees and pulled myself wide open. Her tongue licked faster as her finger moved in and out of my hole. I kept moaning and occasionally yelling words of encouragement. Jess brought me to the edge three times before finally sending me over. When that happened I called out her name once, and then dropped my legs.

Jess crawled up to me and started kissing my face. I brought my lips to hers and tasted myself as we shared little lingering kisses. Finally our mouths opened and our tongues met in a warm, wet embrace. The kiss continued as we rolled onto our sides, our bodies pressed together and our hands roaming. I moved one of mine under the edge of her nightshirt and massaged her butt. That made her moan, and she grabbed at my ass and squeezed. Jess wasn't wearing any underwear, so I moved into her crack and slid my fingers up and down.

When I started feeling around for her rosebud, Jess suddenly broke the kiss. "What are you doing?"

"I was…looking for your butt hole. Are you not into that?"

She just stared at me.

I said, "I'm sorry. The way you reacted when I touched your butt…I assumed, and I shouldn't have done that."

Jess stared at me for a moment longer. "It's okay," she said. "I've never really…tried that." She didn't sound upset, and I wondered if she was curious about it. But I decided not to push the subject.

"Well, if you ever want to try it, let me know. I've had some experience."

She nodded. We got under the covers before kissing some more and finally falling asleep.

I was woken up the next morning by the sound of a slamming door. There were sounds of people talking and walking past the window. As they faded I looked to the other side and was surprised to see Jess already awake, leaning on her arm and staring at me.

"Morning," she said.

I rubbed my eyes. "Is it that already?"

"Unfortunately. I have to get to work."

I looked at the clock. "Me too."

Out of the blue, Jess asked, "Did you enjoy what I did last night?"

"Yeah," I said. I didn't feel like getting into criticism right then.

Jess smiled. "Good. I was worried."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, I, um, haven't exactly had much…experience." Jess sighed and said, "Truth is I've only been in two relationships before. But one of them taught me a lot, and I read how-to books and sex stories. I know that doesn't make up for actual experience, but…" She shrugged.

I was about to tell her that she shouldn't feel self-conscious about that kind of thing, but then I realized sexual abilities were important to her because she thought they could make up for how she looked physically. I stroked her arm and said, "Really? I couldn't tell."

It was one of those little lies you sometimes say at the start of a relationship, either to spare fragile feelings or keep sour notes from screwing things up too early. You tell yourself that if things go far enough you'll be able to tell the truth later, and if they really care about you they'll understand and be forgiving. Sometimes you eventually bring it up, sometimes you don't, and sometimes you find more subtle ways of getting the message across. I had a feeling that with Jess, on this particular subject, subtle was the way to go.

"Sorry I don't have anything to eat," she said.

I rolled on top of her. "Oh yes you do."

Jess gave me her muted smile again. "Don't even start, we don't have the time."

I kissed her on the lips. "You're denying me my recommended daily allowance?"

"Of what, vitamin P?"

I laughed. "How about we take a shower together? Do two things at once."

In the bathroom Jess hesitated before taking off her nightshirt. I made sure to smile at her while looking at her body, running my hands up and down her sides. Once we got in the shower, the only two things we managed to do at the same time was each other, using our fingers until we both came. After we washed each other's hair I ran my hands down her back and over her butt.

"How does it feel?" she asked. "Back there."

"It's different," I said. "At first I wasn't jumping at the thought of it, but when I finally experienced the sensations I really liked it. The important thing is you've got to start out slow, too many people get turned off by not easing into things.""

Jess nodded. Then she said, "I think I'd be willing to try it, if you'd be willing to show me."

I gave her a sly smile. "Depends. You need to pay the fee first"

"What's the fee?"

"A kiss."

Jess leaned in and took my lower lip between both of hers, played with it a little, and then moved into a slow, smoldering kiss that literally made my knees weak. The girl may need some lessons in eating pussy, but she really knows how to kiss. When it was over she asked, "Does that get me the lessons?"

"Baby," I said, "that buys you the school." I grabbed a bottle of liquid soap and poured some onto the tips of my fingers and rubbed it over her rosebud. Then I squeezed some more onto my pinkie finger.

I said, "If you start to feel uncomfortable, let me know." She nodded and I positioned my finger and started rubbing it around her asshole. Jess closed her eyes. After a few moments I pressed against her hole lightly, went back to rubbing for a few seconds and then pressed again. I repeated the process twice more before it relaxed enough to let me in. Jess gave a sharp intake of breath and I stopped. When she didn't say anything for a few moments I continued pressing in until I reached my first knuckle. Then I let it sit there for a few moments before I wiggled the finger around a little. Jess took in a sharp breath again, but let it out slow, and then she let out a low moan. I moved my finger in and out slowly, gradually making it in to the second knuckle. I wiggled it around again and Jess moaned again. Moving closer to her, I started kissing and licking her neck. Jess made a mewing sound and I slowly moved my finger in and out, never going past the second knuckle. I loved feeling her body pressed up against mine, our skin touching, and me giving her pleasure.

Finally I slid my finger out. "That's all for now. Did you like it?"

"Mmmm. More than I thought I would," she said. "I think I'm looking forward to the next lesson."

I kissed her and said, "Me too."

I dropped her off at work and went to the video store in a daze. I was elated and satisfied and nervous all at once, and for the rest of the day I had butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't sit still, and kept straightening up everything two and three times. It was that kind of anticipation that comes when you're excited about something new in your life. I was so up that I didn't notice I hadn't taken a pill for eighteen hours, at least until lunchtime, when I looked in my bag and saw my stash. I knew I couldn't last all day and night without one, so I tossed a little white pill down my throat. Just to maintain.

Bob came out of his office at one point to get something behind the counter. Suddenly he stopped and looked at me.

"You're wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday."

"Yep."

He dropped the binder he was holding. "You sold your wardrobe for pills?"

"Nope."

Bob stared at me for a moment. Then he came near me and started sniffing. Suddenly his eyes widened. "You got laid last night."

"Bob, there is no way in hell you can smell that on me."

"Yep, you got laid." Bob picked up the binder and walked to his office. "You can thank me later," he said before shutting the door.

"Asshole," I said to myself.

The day didn't move fast enough for me. Every time I looked at the clock it seemed to tick slower. Then we had a rush and suddenly I looked up and it was time to go. I dashed home, showered, and narrowed my choices down to outfits three, four and eight. Four won for reasons I can't explain, but mostly because I ran out of time. I shot over to Jess' and picked her up. She was wearing a black skirt, red blouse and combat boots. Before she got in the car she turned around, lifted the skirt and flashed me her bare ass, thanks to my gift. She got in and we kissed and I didn't want it to end. The only reason she stopped it was because we had reservations. She directed me to this Thai restaurant that I'd heard about but never went to because it was very popular and hard to get a table. I asked her how she got one.

"The dentist I work for. He does the owner's teeth."

We sat at our table and I told her I loved Thai food.

"I know, you told me in your email. Well, I guess Bob told me."

We made very small talk until our waiter came to take our drink orders and give us menus. It was strange, she knew everything about me already thanks to Bob, and I was hesitant to bring up her past. Looking at the menus and talking about our dinner options gave us something else to focus on for a while. Once we ordered we talked about little things, I mostly found out about her current life and tastes and she listened to me talk about Monica some, which Bob hadn't mentioned. By the time dinner came, I was worried we'd exhausted all our conversation options except her past. But then she started talking about music and that sustained us for the entire meal.

Afterwards the check came quickly. We fought over it, and finally agreed to split it. Returning to my car, Jess directed me to a local art gallery with night hours. We had tons of fun admiring, mocking, and contemplating some of the work. After that we went to this dessert bar, found out we both love coconut and split a piece of coconut cake. Right after we were finished I remembered about Ronald and told her what happened.

"My super wants to buy you dinner," I said.

"Free of charge," she said. "I hate racists. Not to mention homophobes and sexists, and people who can't stand it if you don't think like they do."

I smirked. "Anybody else?"

"Cold callers. I'd kick all their asses if I could."

I realized that as much as I didn't want to upset Jess by asking her about her past, my urge to know the truth was too strong. This seemed like an opportunity to ease into the subject. "From what I saw, you could do that easy. Where'd you learn to do it?"

The hurt look returned to her eyes, and I suddenly regretted my choice. But before I could say anything, Jess started talking. "Couple years after my parents…I managed to save up enough money and walked into this karate school. Just took lessons and kept practicing, day in and day out. The sensei said I was the most dedicated student he ever saw. He had no idea what was motivating me. I wasn't going to let anyone ever overpower me again."

"That's why the tattoo? Never again?"

"Yeah. It's a reminder that I have control over my life, and I'm never going to let that happen to me again."

We were quiet after that. I considered letting the subject go for the night, but looking in her eyes I realized the damage was done. Best to get it over all at once. "So, um, you said your parents did that for three months?"

Jess swallowed. "They kept me tied to the bed for three months. The whipping and burning lasted over a year."

"Did you ever go to anyone about what was happening?"

She shook her head. "No, but one of my teachers noticed my burns and got the truth out of me. After that the police and the social workers got involved, they took me away from my folks and I went into a foster home." Her eyes looked away from me. "I don't know why I didn't tell anyone sooner. I guess I didn't have the courage."

"It's not about that."

Jess' eyes came back to me, and she waited. I swallowed and said, "When I was in college, I got into a relationship with my creative design professor. She was intelligent and attractive and had a great artistic sensibility." I smirked. "Not that artistic sensibility is a requirement for me."

Jess smiled. I smiled back, but it dropped as I continued, "The first time she hit me, I…I didn't know what to think of it. We were having this little disagreement, not some big argument. But she was known for having a quick temper, especially in the classroom, and I just, excused it in my head by figuring she couldn't control her anger that time." I sighed. "But it wasn't just that time. And whenever it happened I came up with an excuse. She was angry with her other students and took it out on me, she was bitter because she was teaching people things she wanted to go out and do herself, et cetera, et cetera. It was like I needed a justifiable reason why someone I looked up to could be like this. There was a part of me that said it was wrong, the part of me that had heard about abusive relationships and always said, 'I'd never put up with that.' But I learned there's a long distance between looking at something from the outside and being on the inside with an emotional stake."

"So what happened?"

"A friend of mine saw it happen once. She hit me right in front of him without even thinking about it. Later my friend took me aside and talked to me, reminded me to have some self-respect. So I broke up with my professor, and I started seeing a therapist at the campus free clinic."

Jess nodded and then chewed on her lip. I put my hand on hers and said, "Sometimes you get involved in a bad situation and you don't know how to handle it. That happens, and it's easy to blame yourself. And when people you care about or look up to are doing wrong things, it makes coming up with a solution a lot harder."