Alternate Memories - Ft. Meade Ch. 03

When we got back, I felt that I'd eaten too much, and drunk too much and all I wanted to do was cuddle with Maribeth. I looked at the couch, but it was a poor substitute for the bed when it came to cuddling. I wasn't sending any signals that we should jump in and start going to it, in fact that wasn't on my mind at all. I closed the blinds and stripped down to my underwear. Maribeth did the same including her bra and we crawled under the covers. It felt heavenly.

We laid together for a few minutes snuggled together in the spoon position when Maribeth asked, "Do you think our souls mean for us to be together?* It was a question that I was Ill prepared to answer, so I honestly replied that I didn't know. It seemed to me that what is often called "chemistry" in describing relationships was, in my mind, the soul speaking to us through our emotions. If that was the case I thought the odds were good. It was obvious that Maribeth was still working her way through our previous conversation and I expected that some of my ideas would take some time for her to get her mind around.

But Maribeth had one more question, "If it's as you say, what's the purpose of religion?" This was a question Father "Joe" and I had wrestled with for months, and so it wasn't new. I said tha t thought that organized religion was critical to the establishment of civilizations, in fact I believed that without it civilizations couldn't exist, because it was religious teachings that established basic morality, by defining what constitutes right and wrong and human rights. Morality sometimes gets codified as laws and rules governing all human interactions. I explained that I thought religion and spirituality were both important, but for different reasons.

Maribeth uttered a "humm" to the last comment and I sensed she was turning it over in her mind, but, at least for now, she'd run out of questions. I hadn't asked her about her own beliefs, nor had she offered any. My sense was that she hadn't yet clarified those in any articulate way, so was keeping an open mind. I could empathize because it had taken me a long time to be able to do that myself.

It was very comfortable just holding Maribeth and feeling the warmth if our bodies. I considered moving to a more passionate level, but truthfully I was too content to initiate even that. I didn't fool myself that I could yet read Maribeth's moods with certainty but I suspected that she was feeling similar contentment in what we were doing.

About six p.m. I announced that I was going to shower and shave. I knew Maribeth didn't want me to do the latter since she seemed to enjoy what she called my "manly look" but since we were going out with others, I felt I needed to look like the officer and gentleman I was supposed to be. Maribeth followed when I was finished and by seven p.m. we were clean and dressed for the evening.

We met Joe and Diane at the officer's club since Joe, like me, only had a two seat car. In his case an Austin-Healey 3000. A beast of a sports car that would absolutely blister 'Charlie' in any kind of race. I had always wanted one, but it was so far out of my meager financial means as to be an idea that was nothing short of a fantasy.

We got a table in the restaurant part of the club next to a saltwater fish tank with lots of colorful fish including what appeared to be tiny sharks, maybe eight inches long. None of us knew if these were just juveniles or represented a species of pygmy sharks. They were interesting in any event. To my knowledge, there was never live music on Sundays, so they only played instrumental music in the background.

I ordered the sirloin steak and Maribeth opted for chicken parmesan. The food and drinks were good and so was the company. Diane was a senior at Oklahoma State and was studying psychology with an intent to go to Med School. Maribeth was following a similar academic path, so the two of them basically hogged the conversation. Neither Joe or I were big talkers, so we were content to follow the ladies lead.

We did discuss Joe and Diane's adventure the previous evening. They and two other couples had driven up to Baltimore for dinner at the Rathskeller (the dinner we had passed on). Fifteen minutes after they had arrived they were told by a very anxious waiter that the restaurant was being evacuated because of a fire in the kitchen and they had stood in the cold for a few minutes before they were informed that the restaurant wouldn't be reopening. They ended up eating dinner at a Howard Johnson's. I thought to myself that Maribeth and I had a much better evening.

Maryland was a "blue law" state, which meant that liquor stores and bars were closed on Sundays. Ft. Meade was exempt from some of these restrictions because it was federal property, so we were able to order after dinner drinks, but after just one we paid the bill and departed.

With no place to go, we all headed back to the BOQ where I was looking forward to some erotic experimentation with Maribeth and I suspected that Joe was considering something similar with Diane, which caused me to entertain some erotic fantasies about her. Had I mentally undressed Diane in my mind a couple of times? You bet. She was an attractive woman and worthy of such consideration. I wondered if Maribeth would consider this 'cheating?' If so, every man I had ever met was guilty as sin.

Our evening turned out to be as pleasant as I had anticipated. Sangria led to some petting and fondling which led to the loss of some clothing and more fondling. Our conversation turned onto the subject of how each of us was arousing to the other person and how the sexual tension between us always seemed to be present no matter what else we were doing. I'm not sure how we got on the subject of masturbation. But after Maribeth's panties had disappeared I think I said that I wanted to see how she pleasured herself.

In past conversations she had described how she had used a pillow and her fingers in bed and now she confessed that she liked to push her pussy against hard objects like the padded arm of a chair. She said she usually closed her eyes and imagined herself in erotic situations where she was being seduced by a handsome stranger or more recently by images of me. She liked the idea of being "taken" as she got close to her orgasm. I asked her if she got herself off out of physical need or was it purely psychological? I asked this because, for me, there was a clear physical need that was just biology. Seminal fluid is always being produced and there is limited capacity. Something has to give. She considered this for a moment and said that she thought that some might be physical but that she thought that for most women it was probably mostly psychological.

We had ended up facing each other at both ends of the couch when I asked Maribeth to touch herself. Her response was immediate. She smiled as her fingers dropped into her lap and pushed against her slit. The rubbing began in small circles which I sensed we're around, but not touching her clit. Her eyes partially shut and her other hand was rubbing her body just beneath her breasts.

Soon the circular motion changed to a more linear probing of the gap between her legs and I could see her middle finger toying with the opening of her vagina, while her index finger was hard and pushing against her clit. Her head was starting to fall back and her tongue was beginning to play along her slightly parted lips.

As I watched this erotic scene play out, my own hand had found my penis and had begun a slow stroking. At one point Maribeth looked and saw my situation and this prompted a quick smile of recognition. I could see that her skin was beginning to flush, particularly around her slim neck which I'd come to recognize as one of the early signals that an orgasmic wave was beginning to build. It seemed to me that this woman was enjoying the act of displaying her raw sexuality in this way, and while I hadn't exactly planned to explore mutual masterbation this evening, I was experiencing similar feelings.

Maribeth's first self induced orgasm seemed to me to be milder than those I had witnessed during intercourse, but I knew that was true for me too. As pleasant as these sessions were occasionally, they were not comparable to the overwhelming feelings of completeness that I experienced with coitus.

Having reached one satisfying result, Maribeth's attention became more focused on my arousal. I had become quite erect and my stroking had increased in intensity. Once I paused to display my naked erection for Maribeth's approval, which she acknowledged with a nod. We had not really spoken out loud since we had begun and the communication back and forth was strictly non-verbal. Raised eyebrows here, a smile there, a nod and so forth.

As it became apparent that I was moving closer to climax, Maribeth resumed her own manipulation. I could see that this was a different approach than her previous actions since she seemed to be directly flicking her clit with the tips of her fingers. She seemed to be trying to "read" my arousal and attempting to time her completion to coincide with mine.

I think I spoke the only word during this entire episode when I looked into her eyes and said, "almost there." Her fingers increased their pace as I felt the liquid boil start to rise. I think I got there first, but since I had my eyes closed when the pulsations began, I couldn't be sure. For a masturbation session it was better than most but it was also the first time I had ever done it in front of someone else. My fingers were coated with my spending and as I opened my eyes I could see that another wave had crashed over Maribeth. Her body had become rigid in the manner that I had become familiar and her hand was held tightly between her clenched legs.

When she relaxed enough to open her eyes, she just looked at me and said, "whew, that was crazy." I grabbed some Kleenex located on the table next to the couch and wiped myself off. Then reaching out I drew Maribeth close. I explained that I hadn't exactly planned that as the night's adventure, but I really liked watching her display herself like that. Maribeth replied that it had been a wonderful experience for her too, but she made me promise that it would always be an appetizer, never the main event. She added, her fingers would never be a good substitute for my hardness inside of her, I could not have agreed more.

It was starting to get chilly and Maribeth said she had to go to the ladies room. I pointed out that my room had no such thing, but she padded away anyway and called me another bad name.

Later, as we slipped into sleep snuggled against each other I began thinking about Monday