An Unwitting Discovery

Suzan stepped into the room and placed her neatly folded clothing on my dresser by the door. The pile appeared to include a bra. The tee shirt she'd selected came down far enough to just barely cover her panties. I felt my face flush as she turned back to face me.

Then she did a little 'ballerina' spin, with a knowing smile on her face. "Look okay?" she asked.

"Lots better than just 'okay'," I ventured, earning myself a bright smile from her. "You're my guest, so pick whichever side of the bed you like," I said, and headed to the bathroom for my turn. Inside, I found my mind fogged by her feminine scent, which lingered in the air. I sat on the toilet, brushing my teeth and trying to clear my head as I relieved myself. When I finished, I washed my hands and face, rinsed my mouth, and turned out the bathroom light as I headed for the bedroom.

Opening the door, I found Suzan had taken the far side of the bed, and appeared to be lightly sleeping. I climbed into the bed and turned off the light on the nightstand. As excited as I was, the comfort of her body next to mine put me at ease for some reason. The combination of her scent and my own feather pillow sent my senses into twilight and I was asleep before I knew it.

I was awakened by the sounds of the neighbors in the apartment upstairs, and quickly realized the situation had changed. Suzan was spooned tightly against my back, her arm wrapped around my waist and her hand in my shorts! I remained frozen on my side, with my back toward her, for an interminable time. This turn of events had me as confused as a goat on AstroTurf! My morning wood was hard as a tent pole, and her warm hand was loosely wrapped around it!

After about fifteen minutes of this delicious torture - during which I surprisingly did not explode, as I thought I might - she finally stirred a bit. Her hand gripped and stroked me lightly, and I felt her warm breath on the back of my neck, followed by the gentle touch of her lips as she left a feather-light kiss, there.

"Morning," she said softly. I swear, I'd never heard a sweeter sound in all my natural born days!

"Morning," I answered, trying to make the word come out as something other than a pleasured groan.

I rolled off my side, to be more on my back. She adjusted her position slightly, rising up on her left elbow to gaze down at me, and kept right on stroking me gently.

"Are you sure - " I started, and that's all the farther I got. I was going to ask her if she was sure that she wanted to go any farther, when she dipped her head and her lips found mine. Suddenly, I was in heaven! Her lips against mine felt so soft and full and wet. Moments later, her mouth was angled to mine and she tentatively stuck her tongue out, running it gently across my teeth. I opened my mouth slightly and her tongue darted forward, surging deeper and looking for my own.

The entire time, Suzan had kept a loose grip on me, even though my member was straining hard against her hand. She broke the kiss, after a minute or so, to sit up and take a good look at what she'd pulled free from my shorts. A smile of delight slowly materialized on her lips as she studied the object she now held with both hands.

I wasn't a virgin, as I mentioned earlier, so Suzan wasn't the first girl who'd ever held my cock in her hands, but that's about as far as similarities went. The girl whom I'd lost my virginity to, back in high school, had been someone I'd known for years. And, though we'd made love to each other many times, I'd never had the chance to spend an entire night sleeping in her arms.

It had been less than 72 hours since Suzan and I had first glimpsed each other, in that hallway. We had already spent the night in bed, together, waking in each other's arms to exchange the sort of kisses I'd only ever dreamed about - the kind that made that other girl's kisses pale in memory. And we were only partially clothed, with Suzan holding my cock and gazing lovingly and longingly at it. It was all happening so quickly; too quickly, to my mind, and I thought that I ought to try and slow things down, a bit, despite how much I wanted her.

"I don't want to spook you, Suzan," I offered. "I really like you... I think I might even lo -" I started to blurt out 'love,' but she cut me off by placing her finger to my lips.

"Shhhh, Tommy," she said. "I can't tell you how glad I am, that you feel that way. I've felt the same thing, since the moment I first laid eyes on you."

Then, with a final loving smile, she lowered her head and took me slowly into her mouth.

The shock of it was astounding. I'd had blow-jobs, before, from that girl - Kelly was her name - I dated back in high school, and I'd thought that hers were pretty good. In those first five seconds, though, Suzan took the experience to a whole 'nother level! If Kelly's mouth had felt 'good' on me, Suzan's was pure, unadulterated heaven. Her eyes were riveted on mine, and a sort of... well, 'communication' isn't the right word for it, but I don't know a better one... happened. Whatever it was, something passed between her eyes and mine, in that moment, and it was so much stronger than mere words.

A whole herd of thoughts stampeded through my brain, in those few seconds, but only two stood out clearly. The first was my realization that this moment between Suzan and me was so far beyond my wildest dreams and fantasies that it was almost surreal. The second, though, was the 'sound' of a 'dead slow' warning bell clanging for my attention, somewhere in the back of my brain. It took me a couple seconds to figure out what that was all about because my 'little brain' had put things in override.

"Suzan - " I moaned. I hadn't intended to moan, but the feel of her mouth on me wouldn't let the word come out any other way.

Her fingertip touched my lips again, and she lifted her mouth from me long enough to tell me, "Just relax and enjoy, Tommy."

I took her hand in mine and slowly pulled her finger away from my lips. With my other hand, I reached down and lightly stoked her cheek, then lifted her chin with my fingertip.

"Please, Suzan; don't," I pleaded.

She raised her head and let me plop free of her mouth, a mixed expression of confusion and disappointment spreading across her face.

"You don't like it?" she asked, timidly.

"Suzan, I loved it!" I told her. "You have no idea how much I would love for you to continue, how much I want to go further with you."

"So, what's wrong, then? Don't you like me?" she asked, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes.

"How could I not like you, and yet want to go further with you, Suzan?" I asked her, smiling. "I just think that we're moving a little too fast, here. I can't explain it, but I think we have something unbelievably special, between us - "

"I think so, too," she interrupted me. "That's why I - "

"Look, Suzan," I cut her off, "I don't want to ruin our relationship by letting things go too fast. I had a girlfriend, Kelly, in high school. We were knockin' boots by our second date -"

"Knockin' boots?" she cut in.

"Sorry; that's country slang for 'makin' love'," I explained. "Anyhow, we were just two teens goin' at it on a hot Texas night in the back of her folks' van. That first night I fell head over heels in love with her. We were a couple for about three months. We did a whole lot of knockin' boots, but then she up and dumped me for some other guy. It really tore my heart out and I couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong."

"That's so sad, Tommy," Suzan told me sympathetically. "She must have been pretty dumb, to dump a smart, good-looking guy like you, though."

"Well, maybe - and - thanks for the compliment. But here's the thing, Suzan. I came of age while living in a trailer park, and folks from a trailer park - at least, in the South - get a certain 'stereotype stigma' attached to them."

"You're talking about that whole 'trailer trash' thing, right?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded. "Her family was kind of middle class, and my family - well, we weren't. Over time I have come to understand that we hadn't spent the time to really get to know one another, yet. Yeah, we knew each other a while, but she didn't really to know get me, or what my goals in life were, and I couldn't see things clearly enough to understand how shallow she and her family were..."

"You don't think I'm shallow do you?"

"Oh, no. Suzan! Kelly was the shallow one. She dumped me because she and her folks thought it would lower her 'social image' if she was seen hanging out with 'trailer trash'. I'm just saying I beat myself up about those mistakes a long time. But I think they taught me a very valuable lesson. Now, I try really hard not to let my little head do all my thinking, for me. He's got a one-track mind, and is no judge of character. Call me a romantic, but I'm falling for you hard and I don't want to cloud my vision by going too fast. Something tells me that I really don't want to lose you. I want us to really know one another - heart, mind, and soul - before we know (I made quotation marks in the air, with my fingers, here) one another, if you can understand that."

Finally, her concerned gaze became a smile. "Tommy, I'm a preacher's daughter, remember? Of course I understand what know (she duplicated my 'air-quotes') means! But, thank you for saying it just that way. That's just ever SO sweet!"

"I mean it, Suzan."

She thought about that for a moment and then she opened up to me, at last.

"I guess I was moving a little too fast. I'm sorry, I was pushy, Tommy. I've had some disappointing experiences too. Whenever a guy finds out that I'm a preacher's daughter, he's history. Preacher's kids get pigeonholed too, you know? People often think that we're different from other folks, like we don't feel the same sort of passions and urges that 'normal' folks feel. They think that we only have sex when we want to make a baby, so I'll be a virgin on my wedding night."

"I can see that," I nodded. "Guys can be pretty shallow, like that."

"It's not just you guys," Suzan grinned wryly, shaking her head. "Girls get horny, too. You guys have that... thing, about thinking with your little head'? Well, women don't exactly have that kind of 'expression', but we can get into situations where our bodies try to overrule our logic and common sense, too. With you guys, your pulse rises, and you start to get erect. With us, well, we get erections, too - our nipples, and our clits. And then, there's something that feels like a little electric current, which zips back and forth between our nipples and our vaginas. When that starts up, believe me, we want sex, too!

"Anyway, after I told you about my dad being a preacher, last night, I got to thinking. 'Did I tell him that, too soon? Did I give him enough time to get to know me?' Suddenly, I was overcome with the fear and worry that I might lose you unless I showed you that I was willing to... well, to go further with you, physically... sexually. Like I said, the majority of the guys I've dated seem to become disinterested pretty quickly, if I'm not ready to 'put out' for them!"

Growing up in Texas, I must have heard Kenny Chesney's 'You Had Me From Hello' at least a thousand times. In that moment - hearing Susan's heart expressed in words - I finally understood what the song meant, and I borrowed Kenny's best line. I mean, Picasso phrased it best, when he said, 'Good artists copy. Great artists steal.'

"You don't have to worry about that, Suzan. Let's take it slow because, you know, you had me from 'hello'." I smiled at her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"So, maybe we could still try that kissing thing, again?" she asked. God she was so cute!

"Yeah, that was kind of nice," I admitted, grinning at her.

I pulled her close and we resumed our deep kisses. There was still a little groping, but much less. Suzan's lips were soft and wet. She was a much better kisser than any of my previous girlfriends. She was much more passionate. I could feel the bond between us growing. The make out session that ensued lasted quite a while. I was really happy we'd slowed things down. Well, my big head was. My little head was still yelling at me, but I'd take care of him, later.

It ended all too soon, as Suzan broke off the kisses. She sat up and gave me a big hug and a smile. "I'd love to hang around and continue this, but I've got to get to my apartment and get ready for class. It's nearly 8:30!" she pointed at my clock.

"So soon?"

"We'll see each other in class and lab, silly," she said, as she stroked my cheek. "And, we'll see each other tonight."

She took her clothes to the bathroom and got dressed. As I pulled on my own jeans, I was happy, sad and more than a little proud of myself for interrupting things. The happiness was winning slightly because I felt in my heart it would allow us to succeed as a couple. Her admission of how deeply attracted she was, gave me confidence that I would have the strength to wait. She reappeared from bathroom and she paused by the door looking at me. Her head was tilted slightly and she had that knowing smile on her face again.

"What?" I asked.

She came over and gave me a big hug. Then she looked me straight in the eyes, with her face just inches away, and softly said, "I just wanted to say, Thank you. You were right. We weren't ready. I really appreciate your openness and honesty." That was followed by another wet kiss.

Moments later, she was out the door and gone. I couldn't believe the series of events that had transpired over the last day. It seemed almost too good to be true.

The rest of my day was kind of a blur. Each class had held my attention enough to stay productive but, during the free time in between, my mind drifted back to dwell on the morning's events. I remember thinking how easy the calculus III pop quiz was. My statics class was challenging, and held me focused. I had a quick snack at the student union, while I worked to get my homework for my statics and calculus done and out of the way. Then I decided to go over my genetics homework again, and quickly discovered that I wasn't paying it any real attention. Any reference to biology just sent my thoughts drifting back to Suzan. She filled my thoughts, even though I had taken care of the little head in the shower that morning.

Finally, as 3:00 PM neared, I made my way to genetics class. I saw her coming towards me in another cute blouse and jeans, her hips swaying ever so gently as she walked. Her hair was a radiant aura, or mandala, around her face. She wore just a light touch of lipstick, but no other make-up that I could see. She smiled at me when her light emerald eyes caught me staring at her. We headed to the back row of the class together, and sat next to one another.

We got back a set of homework and started into the next lesson. We were both very intent on the professor's words. Between the two of us, we answered the majority of the questions he put to the class during that session. Towards the end of the class he went over how the lab would proceed, later that afternoon. We were going to be performing several manual iterations of the chemical reaction steps of Di-deoxy DNA sequencing. Those particular steps form the basis of how automated lab equipment currently performs DNA sequencing.

The class ended early and we had a little over an hour before the lab started. Suzan and I found a quiet study area, and went over the material one last time. The session was less productive than the previous one, as we kept making eye contact and touching hands. I could smell her light fragrance, due to our proximity, and wondered if she was having a similar issue. We broke shortly before the lab started, to use the restrooms.

While we were apart I thought about how I had gotten to this point. She had initiated everything, so far. She'd asked me to be her study partner, then lab partner, and then, finally, there had been the contact that morning... I wasn't shy exactly, but I hadn't been the aggressor in any of it. It was kind of nice, a change of pace, to actually have a girl come after me. I finished emptying my bladder at the urinal and flushed. With my mind focused on my situation, I was oblivious to my surroundings, and nearly ran into Professor Franklin as we arrived at the sinks simultaneously.

"You seem to be doing much better than I expected Mr. Anderson," he said, as he began washing his hands at the sink.

I wasn't really sure how to respond to what felt like a kind of left-handed compliment. "Oh, uh - thanks, professor." His words pretty much told me I'd been correct in my suspicion that he didn't think I belonged in his class.

"You seem to be helping out Ms. Sanders. I hope you can help her master this material."

Now, I wondered if maybe his first comment might have been praise. Also, I hadn't realized until that moment that Suzan had a last name. 'Of course, she does,' I told myself. 'Everyone does, I just hadn't known it, until that moment.

Finally, putting the facts together, I told him, "Yeah, we're studying together and want to be lab partners."

"That's a good idea. We will be working in pairs, for the labs. It also looks like the two of you might have some other common interests, though still within the field of applied biology," he quipped.

I laughed with him, as we exited the restroom. During the first few days of class, he'd been totally serious during his lectures. Away from the lectern, the professor apparently had a sharp wit and a sense of humor - even if it was just a tad on the bawdy side.

A rush of protectiveness came over me in that moment. "We're taking things slow," I assured him. I really didn't want him getting the wrong idea about Suzan.

"Slow and steady wins the race," he said, with an approving nod.

The lab went quickly. Suzan and I worked well, as a team, both of us having decided in advance which of us would handle what tasks, and all of our prep work really paid off. The results were exactly as we had expected. We had completed the electrophoresis and gathered our data before any of the other students. We got some odd glances from the other students as we finished up to leave. Outside the room, Suzan and I agreed to meet back at my apartment, around seven.

I went back to the apartment and cleaned up again, not quite as fanatically as the first night but I liked the positive feedback she'd given me. Then I called and ordered a pizza so we would have some food while we worked.

The doorbell rang, a little after seven. I opened it to find the guy from the Joe's Pizza Shop standing there, balancing a large box on his hand, with the other outstretched. "Here's your double-pepperoni pizza," he told me in a flat, bored-sounding voice. "That'll be fifteen dollars."

I handed him a twenty from my wallet and said, "Thanks; keep the change."

"Hey - thanks, man! You have a great night!" he said, the bored look turning to a bright smile as he handed me the box.

"You, too," I replied, as I started to close the door.

The night should be great. I just hoped we could keep it slow and steady. Just as the door was nearly closed, Suzan was pushing on it. Reopening it, I saw she had her backpack slung over her shoulder. I held the door open with one hand, while holding the pizza box in the other. Suzan sashayed into the apartment, dropped her backpack on the table.

In the kitchen, I opened the pizza and got a couple glasses of water. I'd already put out the bottles of oregano, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes, things I liked to add on my pizza. Then I joined her at the table and we ate while we went over our results and write-ups. After we'd both eaten - two slices, for her, and three, for me - I put the box in the fridge and wiped the table so we wouldn't get our papers fouled. Then we got to work on finalizing the result tables and graphs in our lab notebooks. Around nine, we'd gotten everything into pretty decent shape. I noticed that both her handwriting and her block printing were significantly better than mine, and her grammar, as well. She masterfully blended appropriate use of passive voice to objectify results and active voice to describe the actions taken during our experiments - something I was just learning about, in my English course.