She Had Horns

"No more moping, you're coming with us tonight."

Cabe cringed at the sing-song voice of Melissa, his roommate's girlfriend. She was sweet, fun, smart, and impossibly friendly with everyone -- even him. Tonight, however, those were exactly the sort of traits that were most likely to set his nerves on edge.

He looked up from his laptop and found her standing in the open entrance to his dorm room, looking at him encouragingly. She was even more attractive than usual tonight, dressed in a tight Houston Texans uniform that would more likely have belonged to one of their cheerleaders for the amount of cleavage that was on display in the jersey's v-neck. Cabe did his best not to stare.

"No, really, that's okay," he said lamely. "I'm just not in the mood tonight."

"It's Saturday night and Halloween," she said, walking into the room and leaning casually against his desk. "No way we're letting you stay behind. Jason's cousin and his roommates are throwing a party at their house across campus. Come on, it'll be fun."

Cabe shook his head. Going to a party at which he knew almost no one did nothing to further motivate him into leaving the comfort of his personal exile.

"I appreciate it, really, but I don't have a costume," he said. "It's not a big deal."

"This better not be about Chrissy," Melissa said. "You two dated, what, a handful of times? That doesn't even count as a break up."

Four dates, two lunches, and one chemistry lab partnership, Cabe thought. Chrissy's rejection of him the prior weekend for another date, however, had still hit him hard. Melissa was right; it hadn't been much of a relationship. For him, however, already lacking self confidence in the area of relationships, it had been an unpleasant blow to his early college experience.

"I'm over her," he said, lacking conviction.

"Good, 'cuz there's bound to be other opportunities at the party."

"Costume." Cabe shrugged helplessly and hoped she would drop the matter.

"Costume," Melissa said, giving him a sly grin and producing from behind her back a black eye patch and a ratty red bandanna. "Pirate Cabe, scourge of Drannon Hall, wooer of wenches. Just grab a white shirt and some dark pants and you're golden. Chop chop."

As much as he wanted to decline, Melissa was one of those people who pulled everyone else along in her wake. He was helpless to refuse and, admittedly, he found that she had put at least one small chink in his wall of self-pity.

Just then, his roommate Jason, bedecked in a furry barbarian outfit complete with a plastic battle axe strapped across his back, filled the doorway. "You coming?"

"Yeah, he's coming," Melissa said, giving Cabe a wink.

* * *

Not wanting to be a third wheel Jason and Melissa, Cabe excused himself from the couple shortly after arriving at the house party. The place was packed and felt even more claustrophobic by the darkness and the awkward bulkiness of some of the Halloween costumes. He found at least a modicum of refuge in the costumed nature of the crowd, however, as it gave him a bit of anonymity. For a while, at least, he figured he could just wander around and enjoy the variety of costumes while pretending he was looking for someone.

Black lights set up around the living room brought unexpected twists to many of the costumes of those who danced to the loud, thumping music. Several girls, to Cabe's appreciation, wore rather sexy outfits, including one as a belly-dancer and another in a spandex cat suit. Disappointingly, nearly all the girls here seemed to be either attached or at least intermingling with so many other people that he couldn't discern if any was approachable. None, it seemed, were lonely wallflowers like him.

After about an hour of hanging around without seeing his friends or scarcely saying a word to another person, Cabe concluded that coming to the party had indeed been a bad idea. The way he seemed to be studiously avoided by others made him feel like his scarlet V for virginity had been brilliantly revealed to all under the black lights. He was out of his element and being smothered by people who knew cool, who moved easily through social circles, and who all undoubtedly had sex lives.

It was something Cabe had wrestled with for a year or more now - was he still a virgin because he lacked self-confidence? Or did he lack self-confidence because he was a virgin? He knew it shouldn't be a big deal -- after all, he was still only eighteen and a freshman in college. He thought he was headed toward an end to his frustrations with Chrissy before the unexpected dumping. Perhaps that had stung all the more as he was surrounded by hundreds of other freshmen who seemed to have little problem hooking up with one another.

Certain his slump would not end here, Cabe decided it was time to leave. As the crowd had grown even bigger since their arrival, he abandoned hope of actually finding Jason or Melissa to let them know he was leaving. A text message should suffice, he decided, and began to work his way toward the door.

Before he made it halfway across the room, Cabe found himself pressed face to face with a woman he had not yet seen during his people watching. She was tall, lean, and elegant, dressed in a slinky black dress that was cut obligingly low in front and high up the sides of each leg. Stiletto-heeled knee-high boots further accentuated both her imposing figure and, somehow, her graceful motion through the throng. Her face, with dark eyes and full red lips, was serene as if detached from the crude music and revelers that filled the room. The only part of her outfit that separated it as a costume from a sexy clubbing outfit were the horns -- realistic looking curled ram horns that spiraled out from the thick, wavy mass of red hair.

Cabe caught himself staring far too long. "Excuse me, sorry," he mumbled and tried to shuffle aside to clear a path for her.

The woman -- and she seemed to fit far more in that category than any of the other college girls present -- met his eyes and the corners of her ruby lips curled up in a smile. Rather than slip past him, however, she clasped one of his hands and stepped in closer until her body was pressing up against his. With a smooth flick of her hips, she had him off balance and suddenly moving in time with the beat of the music.

Cabe felt himself flush with excitement and embarrassment. This woman could have stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine and she certainly had no business being with the likes of him. Without so much as a word, she had effectively plucked him out of the party and dropped him into her private reality where the other costumed guests were little more than a blur of background. And, to his shock, she was not shy about physical contact.

Certain that she was a tease and would soon discard him en route to the next man, Cabe tried his best to just relax and go with the moment. He was a lousy dancer, but it seemed to be of little concern since she was using him more as a prop for her own seductive moves than for his ability to lead. She twirled about, her body in perpetual, hypnotic motion.

Every so often her eyes would meet his, and in those moments Cabe felt genuinely uncomfortable. There was intelligence behind those dark eyes, but it was of a predatory nature that set off warnings in the back of his mind. The animal part of his brain, however, was fully aroused by her feminine charms. He was almost certain she was much older than he or any of the other students at the party, but that sense only came from her demeanor since her body was flawless.

In a segue between songs, Cabe's mysterious dance partner slowed down long enough to take him by both hands and stare at him long and hard until he started to become very uncomfortable. Those eyes bored into his soul until he reflexively sought a way to break her hold. A trickle of cool sweat ran down his spine.

"I like your horns," he said, the first words either had uttered since they had started dancing. She blinked twice and then a smile softened her serious expression.

"Thanks," she said, her voice smooth and smoky. "And I like your eye patch."

Cabe had hoped that hearing her speak would somehow break the strange spell she seemed to weave about him, make her feel more real. Instead, it only added to the depth of her mystery. It was as if her sole purpose was to seduce and confound men.

"Uh, I'm Cabe," he said, wondering if it was even possible to engage her in small talk.

"Muriel," she said and started dancing again, effectively ending their conversation.

Muriel's movements became increasingly explicit with each song, until at last she was straddling his leg and grinding her crotch into his upper thigh. Her own leg pressed against his uncontrolled erection, and he had little doubt that she knew exactly what sort of condition he was in. Her breasts pressed into his chest while her hands grasped his hips and kept him firmly in place. Sometimes her eyes would close and her head would tilt back in private bliss, while at other times she would look him meaningfully in the eyes from mere inches away. Her lips threatened to kiss him on more than one occasion, but it was never more than a teasing promise.

Cabe wondered at how much longer his body could endure this blissfully erotic torture. Between the heat of the room and the adrenaline rush that had his body racing, he felt like he was on the brink of passing out. He needed cool air and a drink, but he couldn't bring himself to make such a suggestion to his partner.

When another slow song finally came along, Muriel gave him a few inches of breathing room for a moment. She licked her lips meaningfully at him, smiled impishly, and traced one of her immaculately manicured red fingernails across his parched lips. His heart skipped a beat.

Muriel turned her back to Cabe and, for a fleeting moment, he was both relieved and devastated that she was ready to leave him. Instead of walking away, however, she leaned back into him. Her ass pressed into his crotch and she brought her hands up over her shoulders to caress his head and bring it side by side with hers, as close as those ram horns would allow. Here, in close, her scent was alluring.

His hips, locked with hers, swayed side to side. Only a few scant layers of fabric separated them from an extremely intimate act. Cabe felt her breathing through his chest, deep and almost purring with satisfaction. It left him giddy to think that she could possibly be getting as much from him as he was from her.

He tentatively placed his hands on her hips and she encouraged him by placing her own hands firmly over his and pressing harder back into him. She then led his hands up the silky smooth sides of her dress until they brushed against the under curve of her breasts. Cabe's breathing caught as he forced himself to do no more than follow her lead. She couldn't possibly want him to touch her here in the middle of the crowded room, but she was intimating that she certainly was interested in that act.

Beyond concern for what any of the others dancing nearby might think, Cabe closed his eyes and let his body simply respond to Muriel's. He thrust his erection against her ass in time with the music. Careful not to knock his head into her costume horns, he buried his nose in her wavy hair at the back of her neck and deeply inhaled the subtly floral aroma. Under the guidance of her lithe fingers, one of his hands ventured to the exposed flesh between her breasts while the other slid down the silky bodice toward her pubic bone.

Cabe was too aroused and petrified to take any conscious actions of his own. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice warned him that he was either going to end up with an embarrassing mess in his pants or a terrible case of blue balls once she was through with him. Another voice hinted that maybe, against all odds, there might yet be another outcome to this evening.

Cabe scarcely noticed when the song ended, so lost had he become in the crashing sea of his own thoughts and hormones. He opened his eyes and found them reflected back in Muriel's own dark orbs. She had turned around in his arms and, without a moment's hesitation, leaned forward and kissed him.

Cabe's lips opened in response to hers, and their tongues danced across one another hungrily. This was unlike any other first kiss he had known, demanding and uninhibited. She playfully nipped at his lips with her own lips and teeth and grinned when he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Muriel's smile, the only disarming gesture she had made to him in their brief encounter, vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Her face became a calm mask of intense focus that made Cabe feel like he was being analyzed. Again, he couldn't help but wonder what a woman like her really wanted with him.

He gasped involuntarily when he felt her hand slide over his erection where it painfully tented his pants. Their bodies were still pressed together, so it was unlikely it would be too obvious to anyone else around them, but it still made him nervous to be the recipient of such an overt and public act. She never broke eye contact with him, but he sensed just a hint of pleasure in her demeanor at his own nervous reaction.

Twisting her head carefully so as not to impale him, she leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

"Come with me."

"If I don't pass out," he wanted to say, but all he could do was nod dumbly.

Muriel took his hand and led him through the costumed mass of sweaty party-goers. His legs were shaky as hell with uncontrolled adrenaline and nerves, but he managed to make it out of the room behind her lead. She led him down a cramped hall and to the equally packed kitchen.

"Cabe," a voice said from behind just as Muriel was about to lead him through another door into what apparently was the basement. It took his mind a moment to clear enough to recognize that it was directed at him.

"Hey, we were beginning to wonder if you were still here," Melissa said as she and Jason sidled up beside him.

Cabe could sense Muriel's impatience, even though he was looking away from her. Still nervous and dubious as to her intentions with him, he knew that she was not the kind of woman who would wait around to get what she wanted. If he was going to follow this through with her, then it would have to be now.

"Hi, yeah, I'm still here," he said, his mouth dry.

"We're thinking of heading down to Carson Street," Jason said. "Little crowded and hot here. You wanna come?"

Cabe wondered for a moment if either of them even had realized that he was hand in hand with the bombshell next to him. A small part of him wanted them to pay attention, maybe warn him off that perhaps he was doing something dumb. The other side of him wanted just a bit of acknowledgement that maybe he was about to make a major score. Either way, they could wait but Muriel could not.

"No, thanks," he said. "I...I think I'm gonna stay a while. You two have fun."

Melissa and Jason gave one another a perplexed look but then shrugged it off.

"Okay, man," Jason said. "Catch ya later then."

Cabe just nodded and turned back to Muriel. Thankfully, she did not appear to be annoyed with him for the delay. If anything, she had a little air of self-satisfaction about her, as if she enjoyed winning out over his friends. She gave him another intense but brief kiss and then led him downstairs.

The party was carrying on in the basement almost as much as it was upstairs, though drinking was taking precedent over dancing and mingling. The room was dimly lit by orange light emanating from a line of faux pumpkins on a shelf above the homemade bar. Cigarette smoke immediately made Cabe's eyes water.

Muriel bypassed the bar and the rest of the crowd, making for a hallway off the back of the room. There were only a couple people in this unlit corridor, refugees from the press and the noise. The walls appeared to be little more than cheap particle board, probably erected by some student residents over the years to fashion out a couple extra bedrooms. Unhesitatingly, she opened one of the doors and propelled him inside a dark room.

Cabe instinctively reached for a light switch, but only found Muriel's hand which clasped his. She wrapped her arms around him and locked him in a firm, passionate embrace, pressing her open mouth onto his. Helplessly, he kissed back, letting his own arms wrap around her and begin to tentatively explore her back and shapely ass.

Their kissing quickly escalated into a frenzied embrace as they took turns exploring one another's cheeks, ears, and necks. Cabe carelessly got himself poked in the forehead once when he forgot about her horns and took the opportunity to remove his own eye patch and stuff it in his pocket. He hoped that she might have the courtesy to discard her own outfit before he lost an eye, but he didn't know how difficult that might be and he wasn't about to bring it up. Besides, he thought, perhaps some of her behavior stemmed from the illusion of role-playing. He had heard of stranger things.

After a few minutes of getting fully worked back up, Muriel led him further into the room. Cabe realized that there was just enough distant streetlight streaming in through a small window near the ceiling that he could start to make out features of the room. As he suspected, it appeared to be a small bedroom, complete with a bed, desk, dressers, television, and so on. To his relief, they didn't seem to have intruded upon anyone.

Muriel broke off their embrace and stepped just far enough away to be able to unbuckle his belt and open his pants. Cabe's nerves trembled so bad that he was certain she must be able to feel him shaking. Luckily, she seemed to be undeterred as she unzipped him and pulled his pants down to his knees. He was so far past the point of control that he was almost certain he would explode as soon as she touched him.

As if sensing his terrible need and aroused state, Muriel teased him by tracing a single fingernail up along his cock through the thin fabric of his briefs. His body shuddered, but he did not come.

She grasped the waistband and pulled his underwear down in one smooth motion, freeing his cock to point accusingly at its tormentor. She moaned approvingly as she teased the underside of his scrotum with her fingertips. Cabe, for his incredibly light-headedness, managed to not pass out.

Muriel knelt before Cabe and wrapped a hand around the base of his cock. As if sensing that he wouldn't last, she took the entire length in her mouth without any further teasing. The soft, warm embrace of her lips and tongue enveloping his erection was immensely overwhelming and he unconsciously reached forward for something to hold on to. His hands grasped at the base of her horns and guided her head on the few strokes it took for him to explode in her mouth.

As his body trembled with each pulse of ejaculate, Cabe suddenly became appalled with himself for not having given the woman the decency of a warning that he was about to orgasm. His fears of having offended her subsided just as quickly, however, as her lips maintained a tight seal around his cock while she milked every last drop from him with her tongue. As best he could tell in the dark, she had not let a single drop escape.

Muriel stood and kissed him firmly, snaking her tongue back into his mouth while holding his head between both hands. Cabe briefly cringed at the thought of tasting his own semen, but was relieved to find that he noticed nothing different from her original delicate taste. For the first time since she had come into his life, he was able to relax a notch.

"Mmmm...tastes like virgin."

Cabe's sense of relief vanished in a moment with her peculiar and indicting comment. Was that supposed to be a joke? Did she somehow know he was a virgin, aside from his probably obvious tension? For a moment, he wondered if his friends might have somehow set this whole thing up for his benefit, however unlikely that seemed.