Christian Linda in London

"You guys like the smell of salt air too?"

"I do, but Mary is from Kansas City, so this is new to her."

"Hi Mary. I'm Peter. And you're —" looking at the first girl.

"Linda. I'm from Chicago."

The student cruise around the world was sailing by the Statue of Liberty. Less than an hour into the four-month trip, I was trolling for a girl. The "Welcome Aboard" party had begun, but that didn't attract the kind of girl I liked. A girl who would hold her face into the wind at the bow of a ship was my kind of girl.

I asked them why they were on this voyage, their interests in school, where they were from, the stuff of the get-to-know-you first conversation. Mary lost interest once the city lights faded and excused herself to go downstairs to the party.

Linda was letting the wind blow her medium-length black hair straight back. We sat on the deck and inhaled the smell. She tilted her chin up, flared her nostrils, and closed her eyes.

"I love this! We spend our summer vacation sometimes on Lake Ontario, sailing a small boat that a friend of my father has at his summer house. It's heaven. I'm so glad to be able to make this trip. We're going to be on almost every ocean. I want to come home knowing the difference in how they smell."

After a while we walked up to the top deck, stopping at the bridge. The harbormaster was just departing, having taken us on an unusual arc out of the harbor. We thanked him for going so close to the Statue of Liberty. The captain gave us a quick tour of the instruments and introduced us to several of the senior officers.

It was cool when we left the bridge, and the decks, while not deserted, were not crowded. Neither Linda nor I had any use for the party, so we looked around for some place to sit quietly. The only place we found was the library, where the door was unlocked but no one was inside. We couldn't find the light switch so we sat at the reading table, with moonlight streaming through the deck windows.

I told Linda about my family, working-class carpenters and truck drivers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My father was a reader, though, and wanted his children to go to college. As the oldest of three, I was expected to set an example. Somehow Dad could pay my way to Dartmouth and I went to Yale to get my Masters. I really didn't want to go back to Harrisburg, and happily enough my parents' health and finances were solid, so I wasn't needed.

"This is my first teaching job out of grad school. The pay isn't great, but I got free room and board.

"And," I smiled, looking straight at her, "I got to meet beautiful girls."

"I'm a Christian. My father's a Baptist minister," she said. "My mom died four years ago and I've had to take care of daddy and my two brothers. I graduated from high school and got a good scholarship to Foursquare Christian College, but even with the scholarship I couldn't afford to live in the dorms. Now that my brothers are in high school, daddy said I could make this trip as my junior year. The college has a discount for children of pastors and Foursquare helped out. It's the only way I could be here."

Even with her hands folded on the table in front of her as she spoke, Linda radiated earnestness and resolve.

"This program does cost an awful lot of money," I said. "We're both lucky to have this chance."

I laid my hand on top of her hands and looked into her eyes. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. I uncoupled her top hand from the other, raised it to my lips, and kissed it.

I pulled my chair toward her and kissed her. She kissed me back, and I felt her tongue. I brought both my hands under her arms and pulled her toward me. Her hands went to my face and stroked my beard, nearly knocking my glasses off.

We broke off and looked at each other.

"Linda, we should go somewhere more private. Will you come with me?"

"Where?"

"My cabin. I have a single."

My cabin was halfway down a dead-end line of cabins in the men's section. One of my responsibilities as a residence assistant was to articulate and enforce the rules, one of which was no girls in the cabins. I guided Linda down the hall, and luckily we ran into none of the students. I opened my door and waved Linda inside.

I hadn't even unpacked my two suitcases, which lay open on one bunk. The other bunk had been made up by the ship's staff. There was a sink, a built-in dresser, and a chair. The only lighting was a bare bulb recessed into the ceiling.

I closed the door and flipped the lock.

"I hate grit on the floor," I said. "That's why I have this newspaper here, so we can take our shoes off." I slipped my sneakers off and put them on the newspaper. Linda did the same.

"Is this different from your cabin?"

"Nope, same as mine, except I have a roommate and we have two dressers, but only the one chair."

"Sit, please," I said, motioning to the chair. I sat on the edge of the bunk.

"That was very nice, Linda. I don't usually kiss on the first date."

Linda snorted. "You're missing a lot then." She sighed, deeply. Then she pulled the chair closer and fixed me with the most direct look.

"I want to make a change in my life, Peter. You can help me, I know you can. Will you?"

Startled, I parried. "We don't even know each other very well yet."

"Take a chance, Peter."

"I'm startled, Linda. Overwhelmed. No one's ever asked me to do this, whatever you want." The fog of the unexpected coated my tongue. The obliqueness of truth seemed a good option.

"This job is the best chance I have to start my teaching career. I have nothing but my degree and the check that comes from this job. I have no prospects in the academic market if I blow this opportunity."

We were silent.

"Linda, I love teaching. Anyone who asks me to help her learn has me in the palm of her hand. Can you accept being one of my students, but not my only one?"

Her eyes never left my face. Her jaw was set. "If you can do the same, yes. I want to take charge of my life, make all the decisions, take what I want whenever it present itself, with no commitment to anyone but me."

We'd struck a bargain, so I changed the subject. "Linda, you kiss like a champ. You use your tongue to get right to the point."

"I learned that with Professor Thomas, my history teacher. Tom wanted us to be lovers, but I couldn't. He is 25 years older, married, and has two children the ages of my brothers. He'd have lost his job and been ostracized if they caught us. And I'd have been expelled and disgraced.

"Besides, I'm not an adulterer.

"But oh, how we would play with each other! I am very good," she said, her voice rising in pitch as she stood up.

"And do you want us to be lovers?" I asked, standing up as well.

Without hesitation she said, "Yes."

"Now?"

"As good a time as any."

"Alright, then let's take each other's clothes off."

"Peter, you do understand I'm a virgin, right?"

"I didn't, but now I do. And you understand that having sex with me could get you pregnant?"

"I understand it could, but it won't. I've been on the pill since the summer."

We alternated in removing each other's clothes. Socks first, and I kissed the instep of each foot. Her blouse, my shirt. When I asked her to turn around so I could unfasten her bra, she did it herself, shrugging slightly to drop it to the floor.

"I like that, it feels so, so sexy," she said. I took in her smallish breasts, so well proportioned to her 5-foot-5-inch body.

Slacks-pants-panties-briefs, off in quick succession. When we finished and were naked before each other, she took a step back. "So that's how it all comes together," she said, quietly.

I pulled back the covers and laid down a towel. "What's that for?" Linda asked.

"There will be some blood from you, and my semen will be all over and puddle beneath us, creating a wet spot, which is just messy to sleep on. It's just good housekeeping."

My average-sized cock the only thing between us, we reached for each other. Linda certainly knew about stroking, even nibbling my nipples, and she was enthusiastic. But having full access was new, and she was hesitant as I trailed my hand down to her pussy.

"I know I'm going to like this, Peter, but will you tell me everything you're doing as you do it? I know when you go inside me it will hurt, so will you be gentle?"

"I'll try. I've never made love to a virgin. I'm used to getting right to it, with each of us knowing what we like. I will need you to help me do what you like."

"I like your cock. You are hairy, and I like that too," and she stroked my cock and started to masturbate me.

"Oh no, please, Linda, I'll cum so fast. If I do, I'll be useless. It's easier if I get you excited first."

"Sure, I didn't — I mean, I'm already excited."

I eased her left leg up and away and slid my finger in her opening. She pulled back slightly.

"It's how lovers start, Linda. Can you feel me?"

"Yes, no one's ever done that to me before."

I stroked in and out, gradually moving in a second finger, then coming out to play around her opening as she got used to it. I searched for her clitoris and found it.

"Do you know this?" I said.

"Yes, pretty well. I get myself so excited when I play with my clit. I've had an orgasm several times doing it."

"Good for us, then," I said. "It's so nice that you know your own body." She was as wet as necessary, she was relaxed, and I was ready.

"Linda, my cock needs to be moistened on the end. Will you —"

"I'm not sure. What should I do?"

"Lick your thumb and forefinger, get them really slurped up, then form a circle and slowly stroke the top of my cock."

She did as I had asked, then stopped.

"Wouldn't be better if I just took the top of your cock in my mouth?"

"It would be wonderful, but not everyone trusts a guy about that."

"Why?"

"Suppose I cum?"

"Ohhhh. Yes, I see. But I trust you." And she reached out and brought her mouth down, and sucked me.

"Noooo, please, Linda, please don't suck please don't suck. Just moisten it. I'm so ready that I'll cum. Just get it moist, there, that's fine."

I practically climbed up the wall to allow her the entire bunk to adjust to being on her back. I moved between her legs and brought her knees up. Spreading them and seeing her pussy from this angle, I again remembered why I loved the start of fucking.

"Linda, it's time for us to make love. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Peter, yes. Please be gentle, I'm nervous."

I ran my hands down her thighs to her opening. "You are tense. Breathe deeply and relax your legs." She couldn't do it, she was so tense. This wasn't right, so I lay down beside her and she shifted to face me. I stroked her breasts and kissed her, over and over again.

As her breathing grew deeper and she relaxed, I moved her on her back again and opened her legs just enough to kneel between them. This time was much better, the tension of her legs and thighs was much less.

"Linda, please guide me into you. You can help me by bringing my cock there. Together we'll do this."

I tried guiding myself into her, but it was her hand that made it happen. She pushed my hand away and took over. The head of my cock was almost inside when she pulled back. "Oh, that's starting to hurt, Peter. Doesn't it hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine. Do you want to stop?"

"Just for a minute." She took a couple of deep breaths and licked her lips.

"Now let's keep on going, I want to do it all." We had the head fully inside when she stopped me again by pushing against my hips. "No more now, please, Peter."

Before I could to pull out, she changed her mind and grabbed my buttocks, pulling me forward, taking much of my cock inside. "Push hard, now, Peter, push, go all the way!" she ordered. I knew that I had broken through when she said "uhhh" twice.

"There, it's done, Peter, now push all the way into me."

When I was in up to the hilt, I lay completely still. "It's wonderful, Linda, wonderful. I'm going to keep on going."

"Oh, you mean there's more?"

"Yes, the rest of your life." And I began to move slowly in and out. At first she lay still, but as I urged her to meet my thrusting she caught on to the rhythm and by the fourth stroke we were in complete sync. It couldn't have been a dozen strokes later when I was ready to cum.

"Linda, I'm cumming, I'm cumming."

"Do it, Peter, do it, do it to me! Please, yes, yesssssss."

Her vaginal muscles twitched as I cam, making it even nicer to be in her. As my spasms subsided, I fell beside her, careful to keep connected. We held each other, making sure our hearts didn't burst out of our chests.

"I'm so happy, Peter, thank you for being my first lover."

You are terrific, Linda."

We lay silently, just caressing each other.

"I went on the pill early in the summer because I thought I'd met someone special. But he wanted us to elope and start a family right away. I'm just not ready for that.

"They say pastors' kids are wild. I think that's true of me. I want this experience, even if I settle down eventually."

By now my cock was pretty soft and it slid slowly out of her pussy. Linda regarded it with interest. "When I stroked Tom, I saw most of his cock only when it was hard. I stroked him from the top, so that when he cummed it was on his shirt, and then his cock slid back into his pants. Afterward he would get so relaxed, but I was still excited."

"We'll be excited together, I promise you. Did I hurt you much?"

"At first I didn't think I could do it. The second time you started in, I still wasn't sure. Then, when I asked you to stop, I suddenly thought 'no, that's dumb, do it now and be finished, put it in.' I didn't think there was going to be much more to it. I was surprised by the pain, and I'm pretty sore. It will go away, right?"

"We've got the difficult part out of the way. In a day you won't even remember it."

The cum was all over our loins. I rose to ran a facecloth in warm water and cleaned us off. Linda gazed down at the blood spot on the towel. "Good-bye" I think I heard her say.

"Are you offended if I use some 'dirty' words?"

"Peter, I'm a Christian, not a prude. You mean 'cum' and 'pussy' and 'cock' and 'clit'? No, I love them, I feel like I know something not everyone else knows. 'Fuck,' though, is just common. Can we say 'make love' or 'lovemaking' instead?"

"Would you like to make love again, Linda?"

"If you'll eat my pussy, I'll suck your cock," she replied.

And that's what we did. For almost two hours I worked her pussy with my tongue, my fingers, and the tip of my cock, never entering her beyond the head. Twice she came, first with a little, soft orgasm that I could see as her face slipped into a dreamy state while she pushed against my fingers. The second one was perhaps five minutes later, as my face was buried in her pussy. She pulled my head in tight and squeezed me with her thighs. The heat she radiated must have given me a suntan.

For her part, Linda started exploring my organ close up but was distracted by my tongue in her pussy. After her second orgasm, she announced "that's enough, I want to make you cum in my mouth."

"Blowjobs are nice sometimes, but I like sex with girls, not masturbation." We concluded with my entering her from the rear, doggy style.

At one point I moistened my little finger and rimmed her asshole.

"Oh! What's that?!" She was startled.

"The anus can be very sensitive. I wanted to see how you reacted. Pretty well, I'd say."

"Let's leave that for later. Now I want you to fill me up."

It was past 3 a.m. when we collapsed for the second time. Here it was the first night of the voyage, Linda had barely said hello to her roommate, and I was in violation of the rules for having her in my cabin. It behooved us both to get her out of here.

"You're right, Peter. But I need more of this loving."

"Same with me. Let's do this: around 2100 tonight, meet me up by the bridge, say near the door. It's probably best if we don't acknowledge each other, just happen to be at the same place at the same time. We can decide how to proceed from there.

"I hope your roommate hasn't panicked about your not being there."

I gave Linda a pair of my slacks and a shirt, so she'd look something like a boy going down the hall. Neither fit very well but no one seemed to notice her leaving my cabin, and nothing was every said by the administration.

By 2100 I was at the bridge deck. I stayed for half an hour but Linda never arrived. Shipboard romance number 1, I said to myself.

The note was under my door when I got back from breakfast. "I'm sorry I didn't meet you last night. Please forgive me. I will come to your cabin tonight at midnight. I will understand if you don't answer my knock."

I opened the door apprehensively, not knowing if it would be Linda or a couple of deans ready to have me walk the plank. Or both.

She (and she alone) stepped over the raised threshold. "I owe you a deep apology, Peter. I did something with you that I hadn't planned, was not brought up to do ever, and loved every second of. I've prayed and prayed over my behavior, but I haven't gotten an answer. God doesn't always speak directly, of course, but I was so hoping for permission or rebuke. I've always known I was a sinner, of course, we all are. But I haven't hurt anyone, just like I didn't hurt my professor's family. I am so uncertain.

"I came here with my father's blessing. He said 'You can grow on this voyage. Don't lose your values, but don't be afraid to reach out and learn.' So that's what I am going to do.

"So — here I am. Can we make love, again, like we did?"

We made love, at first very tentatively, but ultimately simply and sweetly. Afterward, I told her that I and my class were going to spend the first day in London studying the innards of the city, then have dinner at a pub, so I couldn't be with her then. But for the second and third days in London I would like to be with her, but we would have to be discreet.

Since I had been to London before, I would find a room for us to be together. We could do what we wanted.

"Secret lovers? It seems like a movie. I don't like sneaking around, that's why I broke up with Tom.

"I had to lie to my roommate about where I was the other night. I said I'd gotten drunk and wound up in the infirmary, and she believed me. This isn't who I want to be."

"Maybe what we're doing is a bad idea," I said, hesitantly. "But we're not cheating on our spouses, you're not in any of my classes so I'm not pressuring you. But I'm still afraid that I will get in trouble with the administration."

"I'm going to pray about this again, Peter. Can I see you, here, at midnight, after you've come back from your tour of the cesspools of London?" We agreed she would knock three times, then pause, then twice more. If I wasn't here, or didn't answer, we would stop being lovers but remain friends.

I pulled the tour off really well. I knew London well enough to be late for our appointments, yet give the kids a chance to see things unhurriedly. We had dinner and I drank just a bit too much beer. We were back on board by 2100.

There were three hours for me to make a decision. On the one hand I liked teaching a virgin the ways of making love, and she was a willing and involved student. And I'd never gotten to know an evangelical Christian before.

On the other hand, this was way too complicated. I'd be better off with one of the nurses, the female junior faculty, or mature students.

I was so afraid of having the wrath of the administration come down on me for this relationship. I wanted Linda's fucking but it had not been that great. How could it have been? She'd only done it three times.

At 2359 I was beside the door. Knock, knock, knock. Pause. Knock. Long pause. Knock.

She was wearing my pants and shirt. Relief was all over her face. She stepped quickly in and closed the door, locking it.