Nude Day, Birthday, Art Grade

Robert looked at Cassie, and said, "Yes. Likewise." His blushed again, and looked down. His hair fell once again over his face.

Still shy and still he volunteered, Cassie thought.

From the sofa, Eddy said, "Sure, what the hell."

"What?" Debra exclaimed, "No way!"

"That is fine." Aster fixed her violet eyes on the Debra's blue, and smiled like a goddess amused at the audacity of a challenger. "If you do not wish to pose nude with your boyfriend, I can stand it."

Debra's jaw worked. Cassie could almost see the conflicting thoughts warring in that mind, archaic notions of propriety versus seething jealousy. Cassie tried to belay judgement, remembering that she herself had felt jealousy regarding Robert's adoration for their instructor.

Cassie also noted that Ms. Aster had set the perfect trap for Debra.

The trapped snapped.

"Fine," Debra sighed, "I'll do it."

"Wonderful," Aster beamed. She hopped so lightly off the desk she seemed to float down to the floor. She retrieved her robe, donned it, and tied it loosely as before so that it barely hid her nipples. "Tomorrow's special session begins at noon, but you should all arrive half an hour earlier to prepare." She sat on the front edge of the desk and crossed her legs. Her smile slipped toward a smirk. "I look forward to seeing all of you."

Chapter 3

Questioned Motives

The students departed.

In the hallway outside the classroom, Cassie watched Eddy and Debra leave together at a brisk pace. Debra sniped, and Eddie blew off her concerns. Cassie thought she had a glimpse of what the couple's married life would be, if they stayed together that long.

Cassie fell in step beside Robert, as they both strolled toward the parking lot. Through long hair naturally falling into ringlets toward the ends, Cassie could make out just enough of his face to see he was chewing his lower lip. Even seeing that much of his face was rare.

She hadn't planned on prying, but there were questions she just had to ask.

"Robert?"

He acknowledged her in a distracted manner. "Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

He glanced at her, then looked shyly down. Cassie noticed with mixed feelings as Robert's eyes incidentally passed over her chest. He blushed, and set his gaze forward down the corridor, and said, "Go ahead."

"Why did you agree to pose nude?"

Robert returned, "Why did you?"

Now Cassie felt herself blush. She didn't want to admit to her exhibitionistic fantasies, or at least not until she got to know Robert a little better. She told only half the truth. "For the grade, but I asked you first."

"For art," Robert replied.

Cassie heard the simple conviction in his voice, and gleaned that there was some steel beneath his reserved demeanor.

Some steel in his pants as well, Cassie observed. She wondered if desire for their instructor was the only reason such a shy person would agree to stand naked in class, and if lust would manifest in a very large and public erection. She found herself imagining him naked, even though she still couldn't quite imagine him getting naked.

She commented, "You're usually buttoned up to the neck."

"So are you."

It was true. Cassie had her reasons to keep as covered up as she usually did, though she'd prefer to wear so much less. Contemplating the constraint made her frustrated and angry. She dropped the topic in favor of another. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Feel free."

"Why did you depict Ms. Aster as an angel?"

Robert stopped in his tracks. "I didn't."

"But those wings...?"

Robert led them outside, took a seat on the nearest bench, and flipped through his sketchbook. Cassie sat beside him. Robert found the pertinent page and handed over the book. Cassie studied the illustration. Sketch would not have been the right word, for beyond a few eraser smudges the lines were crisp. The attention to detail was impressive, especially in capturing Aster's eyes and lips and nipples and labia. What caught Cassie's notice more were the added wings. Now that she wasn't looking at the work upside down from across a desk, she saw that these weren't the bird wings so often attributed to angels. These were the wings of great bat.

Again Cassie thought of Ms. Aster's mysterious accent, so like a bride of Dracula.

"You made her a vampire?"

"A succubus."

Back in middle school, Cassie had indulged a passing interest in various myths. She dredged up what she could still recall. "A demon who sucks out men's souls?"

Robert shook his head. "I don't look at them that way. I regard them as more natural than supernatural. Instead of something intangible as a soul, they'd feed on... biological material."

It didn't take long for Cassie to deduce what Robert meant. "Semen," she said.

Robert said nothing. He'd resumed chewed his lip.

Cassie found his embarrassment endearing, and couldn't help but tease out more. "So you fantasize about our art instructor slurping up sperm?"

Somehow Robert managed to blush even harder, and hide even more of his face behind his hair. As he gently reclaimed his sketchbook, he admitted, "I dreamt it."

Jealousy. Cassie tamped it down. She considered herself a rational person, and yet...

"We all have dreams," she said, "And fantasies."

Robert lifted his head slightly, and offered a small smile almost invisible through his long locks.

Cassie reached up to brush the hair back from his face.

He froze.

At first Cassie took it personally, thinking that Robert found her somehow repulsive. But that wasn't it at all. His deep set blue eyes had gone wide. In them, she guessed why he might freeze when offered a human touch. At some point in his history he'd been hit in the head. If it had happened once, it had likely happened many times. Cassie also realized that if someone had tried to touch her without permission, she might been terribly upset.

She asked, "May I?"

He nodded.

She ran her fingers gently through his hair, brushing it back behind his ear. "Your eyes and your lips are very pretty. Do you mind if I say that? Some guys..."

"I don't mind."

"You don't have to hide so much of yourself."

"Maybe," Robert said, "Neither do you."

Cassie thought again of why she'd dressed so conservatively for so long, and again decided not to get into it. Instead she said, "I guess neither of us will hide anything tomorrow."

"Guess not," Robert replied.

Cassie detected just a trace of mischief in his smile, and thought he might have a buried exhibitionist side too.

He continued, "Sounds like we'll be posing in pairs."

"Yes," Cassie nodded, "Debra and Eddie, and you and I."

Robert looked down at the floor, then made himself meet her eye. "I'm looking forward to it."

Cassie heart beat faster. Whatever had happened in his past to make him think he had to hide his light, he still had found some courage. It wasn't just for their instructor, but for her. Cassie wanted to say, "Why wait?" She wanted to strip right there on the campus commons.

She only smiled and said, "Likewise."

Chapter 4

An Accidental Show

Late that afternoon, Cassie was the first of her family to get home. No one else's cars were outside. Still, once inside, Cassie called out a hello to be sure. No one answered. Cassie smiled. She loved her family, but in living with three other people time alone in the house was rare. Cassie intended to enjoy it.

She kicked off her sandals as soon as she got in the door. Stopping but briefly in the kitchen to grab a bottle of sparkling water, she unbuttoned her blouse as she walked through the house. At the top the stairs, she glanced through the open door to her stepbrother's room. It was empty. She pulled off the blouse and passed through her own bedroom door across the hall. So eager was she remove all other stifling layers, she didn't bother to close her door. After setting her drink down beside her laptop computer, she slipped out of her slacks and her socks. Her underthings were in odd contrast with each other. On top she wore a sports bra, white as the blouse she had doffed. The bra flattened her breasts to what scant extent her massive mammaries could be minimized, and reduced her bosom's tendency to bounce and jiggle. Meanwhile a sexy black G-string served as her panties. Out in the world people might stare at a large chest, but they'd never know what she had on down below. She stripped both top and bottom, and immediately felt like she could breathe easier. She tossed the lot in her hamper.

Cassie noticed that she hadn't closed the curtains to her bedroom window as she would usually do before undressing. She had started to break an old habit before she'd consciously realized it.

She recalled, on her way up her family's driveway, having seen the older gentlemen who lived across the street. His little plot of land always smelled amazing. He'd been tending the mint and basil and thyme he grew in his front yard. He and she had exchanged a friendly wave in passing.

Now, without bothering to cover herself, she peered through her window to see if she'd been observed. It seemed this neighbor was no gentlemen after all. He stood gazing up from the middle of his plants. He'd absently tipped his watering can. Clear liquid streamed from its long spout. Water splashed down his leg, and he jumped. He quickly turned and disappeared into his house.

At least the old creep had the sense to be embarrassed about it, Cassie thought. She also thought she should be angrier, but a shivering thrill overcame the idea. Practice for Nude Day, Cassie mused.

She didn't close her curtains.

Sitting at her desk, she opened her water and her laptop. The former refreshed her while the latter woke. After her conversation with Robert in the college corridor, Cassie had considered looking up whatever she could learn about succubae. Something more pressing claimed her attention. She searched online for information about Nude Day.

Most of what she found were stories which started from the premise that nudity was natural, and even a state to be celebrated. Cassie couldn't argue with that. From there though the tales twisted to accounts of exhibitionism and embarrassment, and even to explicit descriptions of countless sexual acts.

All of it had to be fiction.

Hadn't it?

Robert might have called it art. Ms. Aster might've as well.

Whatever each tale-spinner's intent or whether true or not, Cassie found herself more aroused than ever she'd been.

She had a number of playlists on her laptop, including one sultry instrumental mix which always got her hot. The laptop's little speaker was woefully inadequate, so she donned her headphones. As the rhythm pulsed into her, Cassie pulled up a tale about posing nude for an art class.

Perfect.

She scrolled down the virtual page with one hand, and tugged at her hardening nipples with the other. As the story progressed, her fingers slipped down her taut tummy toward her tingling clit.

Cassie closed her eyes. Her mind wandered to the man across the street. Sitting at her desk, she wouldn't be visible from his front garden. She remembered then that he was no longer in the garden. He'd gone into his house. If he peeped out from an upper story window of his place, he might just see into hers.

She didn't so much as turn her head to see whether or not she was again being seen. If she had, she might have shamed him into minding his own business. She thought he could use a little shame. At the same time she was enjoying herself too much to worry long over any kind of shame or lack thereof.

A blossoming part of her wanted to be seen. She hoped he was watching. She wanted to show the whole world.

Through that was true, there was one man in particular she wanted to show. It wasn't a peeping neighbor.

Robert came to her mind's eye. She focused on his strong jaw and sensuous lips, the long hair and long cock. Almost half of what little she knew of him stood at odds with traditional ideas about this or that gender, and she found him all the more enticing for it.

She cast her mind's eye to that cock.

Ordinarily she could bring herself off with just a finger or two on her clit, but now she craved something different. She slipped two fingers inside her wet pussy, and curled them up to her G spot.

She cast herself and Robert in the tale she'd been reading, blurring the lines between what had to be a work of fiction and the next day's potential reality.

Her finger's worked faster inside her, coaxing herself toward climax, while the heel of her hand rubbed her clit in time with the music.

She came hard. Her lips loosed a cry, while her lower lips loosed a great gushing squirt. She considered in a dazed way that she should have put a towel down first. Then again, never before had she squirted that much. She hadn't known she had it in her.

She heard a door slam.

Her eyes flew open. In a panic, she remembered that she hadn't closed the bedroom door. She tugged off the headphones. With the music playing, she hadn't heard anyone pull up. She might not even had the slam had it come from the front door downstairs. This had been closer. She turned to look through her door and across the hall. Her stepbrother's door had been open when she got home. Now it was shut.

How much had he seen?

Cassie rose from her damp seat. She nearly stormed across the hall before remembering to put something on. She quickly donned her bathrobe, then crossed the hall to bang on her stepbrother's door.

"Johnny! Open up! Right now!"

He did not immediately open his door. He took several seconds in which he might have been collecting himself. Finally he cracked the door ajar and said, "Don't kill me."

So he had seen something. The question remained, how much. She asked it.

"Just the, uh, end."

The climax, in other words.

"I just got home," he continued. "I called hello from the stairs. No one answered."

The headphones, Cassie thought.

"I didn't mean to see," Johnny explained, "The door was open. I jumped into my room as soon as I realized..." He trailed off. There was little more to say, but he said it. "I'm sorry."

Cassie had gone over wanting to punch him. Now she took a breath to calm her anger. "No, I'm sorry. I forgot to close my door."

"You're not mad?"

She was still, but, "At myself, mostly. I didn't scar you for life, did I?"

"I'm a med student," Johnny said. "I've seen most everything."

There was a difference between an anatomical lesson and walking in on a step-sibling masturbating, but Cassie wouldn't quibble. She felt awkward enough already. "Okay," she said, "I'm, uh, going to jump in the shower."

"Okay," he said, and closed his door.

Cassie walked on shaky legs down the hall to the bathroom. Before removing her robe, she made sure this door was closed as well.

She stripped, and became aware of just how much of her juices had run down her legs. Mortification ran through her afresh. She turned the faucet and got under the water.

Usually her best ideas came to her in the shower. This time her mind was in turmoil. The idea of posing nude had turned her on. Now it scared the hell out of her. And if she freaked out being seen by one—well two, counting the guy across the street—then however could she take being exposed to the whole class?

Of course, she wouldn't be fingering herself in class. But might she grow wet when posing with Robert? Might her nipples stand up, returning a salute from his cock? Wouldn't the whole class know she was just as turned on as she imagined Robert would be?

Cassie washed between her legs. She was surprised to find herself getting hot, especially so soon after orgasm and embarrassment.

She still wanted to pose as much as she feared it. It seemed her grade was contingent upon it. But that couldn't be right, could it? There had to be some school rule or law against it.

Cassie stopped that train of thought. As Ms. Aster had said, there had been a choice regarding whether or not to complete previous assignments. Time and again Cassie had put them off, telling herself that her math and science classes were more important. It was true that the regular workload quite off seemed impossible. When handing out homework, no professor ever seemed to realize or care that students had other classes as well. But this a Summer session Cassie had taken specifically to make up an otherwise missing humanities credit. Her overall workload in these few months was almost nil compared to the rest of the year. The truth was that Cassie hadn't valued the arts, at least not to the degree that they deserved. The idea the art was telepathy, that creation was a kind of magic, this was intriguing even to realist.

Shower finished, Cassie turned off the water and stepped out onto the bathroom rug. She felt like she'd come to no real conclusion. She was confident that she could weasel out of posing if she really wanted to, but did she really want to?

Earlier that day, the butterflies in her stomach had turned to hummingbirds. Now they were bats, mad to find their way back to some belfry.

Bats, or succubae.

She'd had never looked up the mythical sex demons, having opted instead to learn about Nude Day. She thought she might do that now, if only for some distraction to clear her mind.

She didn't have time.

She donned her robe and opened the bathroom door. From below she heard the voices of her mother and stepfather bustling about in the kitchen. They'd returned home while she washed.

Cassie felt a flash of fear that her stepbrother might have tattled about her fingering herself. The idea was ridiculous, childish. Her parents were scientists in their own right, her stepfather a doctor. They'd never pushed shame over natural human functions. Besides, Johnny was almost as embarrassed as she was. He was probably still hiding out in his room.

Tiptoeing down the hall, Cassie saw the she was right. Johnny's door was still closed. Cassie entered her own room and likewise closed her door.

She realized at once that she should have brought a towel from the bathroom. The scent of her juices had lingered, having soaked into her seat and dripped onto the floor. Cassie grabbed a handful of tissues and did her best to mop up the mess. When she'd done the best she could, she tossed the tissues in a wastebasket.

Cassie was embarrassed to face her stepbrother again, but she knew she couldn't hide in her room indefinitely.

Though she'd long kept her body well covered in classes, she generally dressed more casually at home. She was tempted on this ocassion to wear more than she ordinarily might under this familiar roof, the Summer heat argued against it. She donned just cotton panties and a light sundress before venturing out.

Johnny's door now stood open. Cassie peeked in, and immediately imagined that doing so could be a mistake. What if he was in there pleasuring himself? That was something she might never unsee.

He wasn't, of course. Cassie heard his voice from below. He'd gone done to join their parents in preparing for dinner.

Chapter 5

Nude at Home

The meal passed in almost total silence. Cassie and Johnny barely looked at each other.

Cassie's mother Iris asked, "You two okay?"

The step-siblings mumbled noncommittal replies.

"I hear ya," Iris answered as if there'd been anything intelligible to hear. "This heat is just about melting my brain."

"That would be a terrible loss to science," Johnny's father Andrew said, "And to me, I might add."

Iris smiled at him, but did look like she might melt in the heat.

"You know what we need?" Andrew suggested, "A dip in the pool after dinner!"

"Sounds good," Iris said.

Everyone helped to clear away the dishes and leftovers, and then went upstairs to get changed.

Closed in her room, Cassie contemplated her options. She had two swim suits, a modest one-piece for swimming in the pool and a scant bikini for lounging in the hot tub. It was still too warm to enjoy the hot tub, but Cassie chose the skimpier two piece anyway. If she was seriously considering posing nude on Saturday, she'd had little time left to get used to exposure.