My Graduate School Romance Ch. 03

Astrid yelled, "That was good!"

Several people hooted their approval.

The rest of the set went well, but we didn't have folks dancing. Elly looked a bit concerned. I wasn't worried. We were making some good music.

At the first break, Astrid brought her date over and introduced the band to him. His name was Bradley and he seemed like a nice enough guy. Astrid didn't seem too thrilled with him. Both Lori and Astrid made sure we knew how much they liked the acoustic set. Just then Pete walked up.

I gave him a fist bump, "Dude, you sing really well!"

"Thanks. When Katie came up to help you and Elena, I decided to help too."

Lori said, "Well, the four of you sounded great."

When it came time to start the second set, Elena announced, "When we rehearsed this next song, Sean told us about his first audition. How did it go?"

I laughed, "The guys asked if I could play Chuck Berry. I showed them I could and that's all they needed to hear."

Elly yelled, "Play us some Chuck Berry!"

I ripped into the lead of Johnny B. Goode. Elly sang. No way could I play the lead and sing at the same time. The dance floor was immediately packed. I saw Astrid drag her date out to dance. He seemed less than thrilled. By the second song Bradley was done and Lori joined Astrid on the dance floor. Given how long they stayed out dancing, I got the impression that Bradley wasn't impressing Astrid. At one point she sat on his lap, but that didn't seem to go anywhere.

*****

Astrid came home that evening after I did. I am usually wound up after a gig and I decided I would wait up for her. I was sitting at the kitchen table reading for Saturday's class when she walked in.

She threw her jacket against the wall. I sensed that my earlier impression was correct. She got a beer out of the fridge and sat down at the table.

I looked up from my book, "Want to tell me about it?"

"Not really." She sounded dejected.

I went back to reading knowing that she couldn't resist talking.

"Bradley's a pig."

I closed my book, "Oh?"

"I tried to get him interested in me, but after a while he just wanted to talk to Lori."

"I saw you sitting on his lap."

She took a drink, "Yeah, that didn't work. Lori was so cool though. She kept bringing me back into the conversation. When we left, she suggested that we drop him off first. Once he was out of the car, she told me to forget about him. He was a loser."

"I am reminded of something that my mother told me when my first real girlfriend broke up with me."

"What's that?"

"There's more than one fish in the sea."

"What is it with Americans and your funny sayings?"

"Icelanders don't have funny sayings?"

She thought for a moment, "Rúsínan í pylsuendanum."

"Which means?"

She laughed, "It's the raisin at the end of the hot dog."

"Don't ever give me shit about American sayings again. So, are you disappointed about Bradley?"

"Yeah, a little. I think I have lousy taste in men, present company excluded."

"Would you like me to get you a date?"

"You don't know anyone."

"There's a nice guy in my Wednesday night class named Paul. Seems like a straight shooter."

"What's he look like?"

"A guy. I don't know. Brown hair. Five ten. Average build."

"Is he cute?"

"I don't know. Guys don't think other guys are cute, well unless they're gay."

"Okay. Let's give it a try."

"Go to dinner, just you and him. No third wheel."

When we finally got to bed, Astrid just wanted to snuggle. Given the hour and my level of exhaustion, that was fine by me.

*****

The next morning I wrote Paul an email to see if he wanted to go on a date with Astrid. He responded almost immediately and said he'd love to. Astrid was drinking coffee.

I called over to her, "My classmate Paul said he'd love to go to dinner with you tomorrow."

"What? You wrote to him?"

"Yes. He said he'll go out with you tomorrow."

"Shit! I wish you'd asked me."

"I did. Last night."

"And I said yes?"

"Yeah."

"What time tomorrow? Is he driving?"

"He'll drive and he said six o'clock."

"Is it fancy?"

"Not fancy. I'm telling him to pick you up at ten to six."

"Why ten to six?"

"Because I have a date and I want to introduce you."

"Fine!"

I hate when women say 'fine'. It usually means it isn't.

*****

Having Astrid as a roommate made going on a date a little awkward. When we came home from the library on Friday afternoon, I started cleaning up to go over to Maria's.

She started grilling me, "Where are you going?"

"To dinner."

"Who with?"

"It's okay Mom. I'll be home at a decent hour."

"Who with?"

I just ignored her and she was really pissed.

*****

I arrived at Maria's apartment about six. I brought a bottle of Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that I thought she would appreciate as a hostess gift.

Maria met me at the door wearing a sun dress that exposed her shoulders. Most likely there wasn't a bra underneath. "Benvenuti a casa mia." She gripped my shoulders and kissed both my cheeks in the European fashion, except they weren't the typical fake air kisses, they were real. On the second cheek she lingered for just a moment. Of course, I reciprocated.

"Grazie." I handed her the bottle, "Pour tu."

"Oh that's funny, you switched to French."

I laughed, "Sorry. I can't remember the Italian."

Maria gave me a broad smile, "Per te."

"Per te," I repeated.

"Please come in and make yourself at home. Would you like a glass of wine before dinner? I have a very nice Nero d'Avola from the area of Sicily that you were in."

"I'd love it."

The apartment smelled of garlic, spices, and olive oil. I followed her into the kitchen.

Maria donned an apron and stirred something in a frying pan. Then she poured out two glasses of wine.

I raised my glass, "To colleagues and friends."

"To my new friend."

I took a sip, "Ahhh. Magnifico!"

"Grazie. I'm glad you like it. Please make yourself at home while I finish up here."

She had an efficiency apartment, essentially one large room with the kitchen off to one side. The only separate room was the bathroom. A single bed was tucked in the corner. A table was set for our dinner and up against another wall was a couch. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the placement of anything. She had several oil paintings on the wall. When I checked them out, they were all original pieces, some with Italian sounding signatures, and others with American names.

Maria called out, "Those were given to me by friends. I think the one by Daniela Astone may be worth something someday. She is becoming very famous."

"Do you know her?"

"I met her when I was an undergraduate in Firenze - Florence for Americans. She is an acquaintance. Maybe more than an acquaintance, but not quite a friend. A very kind person."

"That's so interesting." I came back to her kitchen and leaned on the counter, "So what brought you to America?"

"The opportunity to study. I think a doctorate from here will be more important than if I received one from an Italian university."

"Wow! I didn't realize that. What are you looking to study in sociology?"

"I think I told you on the hike, I am interested in human sexuality."

"That's right. You did. Lori wanted to volunteer. Astrid got pissed when Lori wanted to touch the yoga pants." I took a sip, "I think that's cool. So, what specifically?"

"Human sexual response."

"Sort of like Masters and Johnson?"

"Well yes and no. For example, for Americans the female breast has been very sexualized. In my country, breasts are not sexualized. They are for feeding babies."

Maria had been facing the stove and when she turned to me, I noticed that she was nipped out.

She continued, "Take this moment right now. You almost immediately noticed my erect nipples, yes?"

I felt my cheeks redden, "Yes. But I just noticed them. I think when you mentioned women's breasts."

"Ahh, the power of suggestion. I mention breasts and you look at my breasts. Just to be fully transparent, I pinched my nipples before I turned to face you so that they would be hard. I wanted to see your response."

"And what can you conclude from my response?"

"That you are a heterosexual American male who appreciates the female form."

I laughed, "That is such a delicate way of describing my ogling."

"You are not ogling my friend. I was just doing a little experiment on you. You have been to the seashore on Sicily, yes?"

"Sì."

"And did you not see people barely dressed?"

"A lot of men in speedos and topless women."

"Exactly. Men are not bashful and neither are women. We accept our bodies for what they are. One American friend joked with me that in Italy a bikini body is any body that you can put a bikini on."

I laughed, "That's true."

Maria created two plates for us and placed them on her table, "Please have a seat my friend. As we have been talking, you have given me an idea for an experiment."

"What is that?"

"I am wondering how the American male responds when faced with multiple stimuli, some sexual and some not."

"For example?'

"This for example." Maria reached down and pulled her sun dress over her head revealing her very attractive body. Now she was only wearing a small white thong and sandals.

I tried to keep my composure, "That's a very nice dinner ensemble you have Madame."

"You like? Obviously, this isn't official research. I have not been to the institutional review board, but I would like to see how enticing I can be during our dinner. I think you should, what was your word? Ogle?" I nodded. "I think you should ogle me to get it out of your system, then we can have dinner."

My eyes moved down her lovely body. Maria's breasts were average sized. They were in the middle of her chest with little to no sag. Her quarter-sized areolas were a pleasant shade of brown with conical shaped nipples. She didn't have an athletic body, but she was in very good shape. A distinct mons highlighted her thong. I could detect pubic hair and her slit against the material. Even though she was short, her legs seemed long and lean.

I finished my ogling, "So the experiment is how much I can carry on a conversation with you and eat my dinner without being distracted by your beauty?"

"I don't think I can share that with you since that might skew the data. I will write down my hypothesis though."

She went over to her counter. She faced away from me, purposely spreading her legs and bending to give me a view of her shapely ass. There was a single string running down her ass crack. I could plainly see her tight rosebud. I involuntarily groaned.

When she had finished writing she turned around, "Just so you know, Italian men would have probably had the same response to my derriere that you did."

She came over and sat down at the table, "When we are finished with dinner, I will show you my hypothesis. Then we can discuss our findings."

"Sounds fair."

I tried very hard to maintain eye contact with Maria throughout the dinner. I have to say that having two lovely breasts in plain view made that difficult. It was a similar situation that I had eating breakfast with Katie. The other distraction was the food. Maria was a superb cook. Nevertheless, I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping up my end of the conversation.

Our conversation started with Nancy Wilson as our common professor. Then it moved to our hopes for the future. It was reassuring to know that Maria hoped to make an impact on our world as well. She had three areas that she wanted to work in. First, she wanted to continue to change hearts and minds regarding the LGBT community. Second, she wanted to reduce sexual violence, especially in the developing world. She thought one way to do that was to study how men in those places think about and respond to women. Finally, she wanted to liberate the American mind from our puritanical cultural viewpoint regarding sex and the naked human body.

I told her about how I wanted to address poverty, both here and aboard. I told her about the paper I had written about the Philippines and the poverty I saw there. She pointed out how sex work in developing nations is often the only way to make a living.

Maria poured more wine into our glasses, "So tell me about Astrid. I think she is so interesting."

"Did you hear that her apartment was fire-bombed?"

"Oh, that's horrible! How's she doing?"

"For now, she's staying with me."

"How is that working out?"

"Well, for example, tonight she grilled me on where I was going. I didn't tell her."

"Oh. I will be sure not to mention this to her tomorrow on our hike."

"Other than that. She's a very cool person. She is in the writing program, working toward a doctorate. She works at the Writing Studio and has helped me with my last couple of papers. She's really good. I strongly recommend her. She is originally from Iceland, but is very American."

"Yes. That stood out to me. No accent. Icelanders tend to be very casual about sex. Does Astrid fall into the Icelandic or American view of sex?"

"American. She's lived here most of her life. She describes herself as having all the typical American hang-ups, especially body image."

"That is interesting. I already wanted to be her friend. Now I think I will need to get to know all the other things about her. She doesn't have a problem expressing her opinion."

"No. Not at all. She freely speaks her mind."

Maria stood and took our plates to the counter. She returned with a Granita for each of us.

"I make mine with grapes. This time of year, the Concord grapes are very good."

"This is such a nice dinner Maria. Thank you so much for all the work you put into it."

I could see my compliment hit the mark and that she was pleased with her effort.

"Sean, just so you know, I had no intention of dining with you au natural. I don't intend on trying to seduce you."

"Just so you know, it's perfectly fine if you do want to seduce me."

"That's good to know."

We finished our dessert and she suggested we move over to the couch. She handed me the piece of paper with the hypothesis. It read: "Sean will strive to keep eye contact as much as possible. When he thinks I am not looking he will look at my breasts, genitals, and ass."

I sat down and Maria straddled me. I instinctively placed my hands on her ass cheeks.

She smiled at me, "I thought you might do that."

"Put my hands on your ass?"

"Yes. I don't mind. I hope you don't mind being my research subject, even if it is very informal."

"I don't mind."

"What kind of reaction are you having right now? Is your penis responding?"

"You can check for yourself, but I am definitely getting stiff."

She put her hand on the front of my trousers. Then she scooted her hips so that our crotches were touching, "Yes, I can feel that. Anything else you would like to report?"

"I think I can feel some pre-cum leaking out."

"Oh! Pre-ejaculate. Good to know. How inclined are you to want to expand our physical contact?"

"I am very tempted to expand our contact."

"How about if I were to kiss you?"

She leaned in and gently pressed her very soft lips to mine. Then a little harder. I felt her lips part and I extended my tongue. Maria took my hand and placed it on her breast, then both her hands went behind my head. I cupped her breast then began to roll her nipple. She placed my other hand on her breast. I rolled that nipple as well.

She spoke into my mouth, "While European men do not sexualize female breasts. European women very much appreciate it when their breasts are treated sexually."

"Would you like me to suck on them?"

"I would love for you to suck on them."

She raised herself up so that her nipples were in my face. I tongued my way around her areolae. She groaned her approval.

I took each nipple and gave it a gentle suck, "In the interests of research, what effect does my sucking have on your body?"

"Excellent question." I looked up at her and Maria had her head back. "Perhaps you should place your hand on my vulva and measure my moisture level."

I slid my finger between her labia. She was obviously wet. I decided to take her suggestion literally and I pushed the thong to the side. She was very wet. I gently ran my finger up her slit to her clit.

I sucked on each nipple again, "If I may make an observation."

"Certainly."

"I think the fabric of your thong is interfering in my measurement."

"I should remove that impediment. If I could also make an observation."

"Yes."

"Your state of dress is interfering with my observations as well."

"I think we should take care of that."

She stood and peeled off her thong. She had a very small tuft of dark pubic hair above her slit.

Maria unbuttoned my shirt, then ran her fingers through my chest hair, "Something we will have to investigate is the effect of male body hair on the arousal of the female."

"We should also investigate how the presence or absence of female pubic hair impacts the male."

"Great subject. I should be taking notes, but I am too busy with my research."

She unbuckled my belt and my trousers dropped to the floor. My erection tented my boxers.

Maria dropped to her knees, "I hope you don't mind, but this is also part of my research."

"Of course."

She pulled my boxers down and my penis sprang up, "Oh, this is an excellent specimen. I note that you have been circumcised. Eventually we'll have to take your vital measurements, but for now I note that the length and girth of your penis is slightly above average, probably in the 55^th to 60^th percentile. I also note that you have red pubic hair that you haven't trimmed very much. The coloring of your penis is typical of those of Celtic descent. Oh, the research possibilities are endless!"

Maria took the head of my cock into her mouth and sucked. She licked up and down my shaft, then all around the head. Then she kneaded the head with her tongue, a very pleasant technique. She worked me for about five minutes and I was as hard as possible.

Finally, she stood up, "If you don't mind, we should move over to my small bed. It isn't the ideal research platform, but I think it will do."

She took my hand and lay back on the bed, "Do you have a preference on what you would like to research first?"

"Cunnilingus."

"One of my favorite research topics."

"How would you like me to proceed?"

"What is your normal sexual behavior at this time?"

"Normally, I would spend a great deal of time teasing my partner to increase her arousal."

"I think future research can address that. I think for right now you should experiment with various oral techniques."

"Very well."

She lay back on her pillow and spread her legs.

I settled in and pressed my nose into her bush, "Your scent is intoxicating." I licked the length of her vulva, "You taste divine."

I probed into her opening with my tongue and focused on her clit. I reached up and took a nipple and rolled it. Maria groaned her appreciation. I decided to tease her a bit. I would lick her clit for about a minute then move to the rest of her vulva. I spent some time lapping up her juices. I tongued her rectum and she brought her knees up, giving me full access. A slide back to the clit. A slide back to the anus.

I teased Maria like this for quite a while. Finally, I focused exclusively on her clit. I probed into her vagina and massaged her g-spot. Her feet came down on my back and she started pinching her nipples. I could feel her orgasm begin as her vagina started contracting. I kept working her. Her back arched in an attempt to get her clit away from my tongue. Her head was thrown back and she was panting.

Then she grabbed my hair with both hands and held my face away from her. I slid my body up, trapping her ankles on my shoulders. She put her hands on my face. I placed my erection at her opening and Maria looked at me with crazy eyes. She nodded and I slowly pressed myself into her warmth. Oh so tight! I bottomed out and began gently pumping her. Her contractions continued. My speed increased and she was grunting with every thrust. Soon I was slamming my hips into her.