It’s hard to foresee life’s unexpected twists and turns. Who would have known what a tortuous path we would follow to where we are today and how we got here. I guess I should start at the beginning.

oOo

I was born in Egypt. My father was of Russian and Armenian origins, while my mother was a mix of Lebanese and Italian blood. Both had been born in Egypt. After the Egyptian Revolution, my father decided to have the family leave Egypt and move to North America.

So here I was now at the age of sixteen and on the eve of graduating from high school. I was precocious for my age and had skipped a few years of school due to transferring from a European system of education to a North American system.

I was what today would be considered a nerd due to the difference in age with my classmates. I had not made friends in school. My refuge was in books, and I did not participate in school sports. That is not to say I wasn’t active in sports, but those I did were outside of school. I participated in Judo classes, swam, played tennis and skied in winter. My sports interest were not part of the school curriculum in which my classmates participated.

Now I was faced with graduation ceremonies and the prom.

“Ray, who have you invited to the prom?” my mother asked.

“No one. I’m not going,” I answered.

“What do you mean you’re not going?”

“No girl from my class would want to go with me. They are all older than me and already have boyfriends.”

“Can you bring a girl from a junior year?”

“I suppose so, but I don’t know. In any case, I don’t know any.”

“Leave it with me. I’ll take care of it.”

“What do you mean you’ll take care of it?”

“Trust me.”

Trust her. Hell no. Not with something like this. I could see myself being embarrassed by her and not for the first time. My mother had an incredible ability to get me into embarrassing situations. Like the time she went out without me to buy my school clothes and returned with things like knee britches. Then insisted I wear them to my first day of school.

I could still see my classmate’s reaction when I walked into the class on the first day at a new school in a new country. It had taken me months to recover from that humiliating disaster.

I put the matter of the prom out of my mind, thinking my mother was just being a little crazy. How could she find a date that would accept me or one I would accept.

My delusion was short-lived as she returned home an hour later and announced that she had succeeded.

“Who? Who have you dredged up who will go to the prom with me?”

“Kim!”

“The Kim that lives next door?”

“Yes.”

“But mom, she is one of the most popular girls in school and she is two years older than me. Why would she accept?”

“Ray, you do not realize who you are. Now shut up and come with me. We have to go get you a tuxedo for tomorrow night and a corsage for her.”

“What’s a corsage?”

oOo

Kim

“What was I supposed to do, Jean?” I wedged the chunky receiver against my shoulder with my cheek, careful not to smear freshly applied Hazel Bishop Ultra-Matic on its mouthpiece.

“Everyone else already has a date... Yes, even Bobby Buell. Edie Marchand talked him into taking her... Well, it’s obvious. Because he couldn’t have you, that’s why.”

With a practiced flick of the wrist, I funneled excess glop from the brush and began to gloss my toenails in American Beauty Red. Dave Brubeck sizzled in the background from my radio. Everyone else was crazy for Elvis. I just didn’t get it.

“You know what that dress set me back. And I don’t intend to let three months of babysitting those spoiled Lebeaux twins go to waste... No, the pedal-pushers were a total loss.” Jamie Lebeaux had smeared grape jelly all over the seat while I was mopping up Johnny’s orange-juice tantrum. I turned cartwheels around the yard after Mrs. Lebeaux had phoned to inform me they’d be boarding the terrible twosome at Pinevale Academy, a hundred miles away.

By then, the sleeveless sky-blue gown whispered festive promises every time I opened the closet door.

Then the day before yesterday, another call, this time from Doug. He’d sprained an ankle during track practice and would be on crutches for at least a week, hobbling my prom-night dreams as well.

“Ray’s mom seems really nice, and I’m not sure, but he might have an after-school job because he rarely gets back before suppertime. That’s why you haven’t seen him when you come over. Anyway, you will, a little later. See you at the dance.”

I hung up, lacquered my nails and glanced at the latest Mademoiselle while letting my handiwork dry.

But I couldn’t concentrate. Doug was a known commodity - popular, athletic, good-looking if on the bland side. Other than the few times I’d seen Ray, usually at a distance, I didn’t know him at all. When he wasn’t wearing his glasses, he was quite attractive. For a younger guy, anyway. I’d assumed he already had a girlfriend his age.

What did I have to lose? It was only one date. Conversation would be no problem. I’d ask him about the other places he’d lived. I just hoped he could dance without stepping on my new shoes and knew how to keep his hands to himself.

Most of all, I hoped he wasn’t an Elvis bore.

oOo

Ray

I stood silently while my mum fussed with my bow tie and cummerbund. I felt totally ridiculous wearing a white sport coat, starched formal shirt and the pants with that ridiculous satin stripe running down the leg.

“Mom, I look like a damn waiter,” I complained.

“No. You look very handsome. Now stand straight so I can look at you. Okay, you’ll do. Now go pick Kim up next door, and I’ll get the car ready for you to drive over. Don’t forget the corsage.”

Terrified at what lay ahead, I went next door and rang the doorbell. Standing on the stoop, I had the overwhelming urge to run away. Mr. Wallace opened the door and looked at me with a smirk before turning and yelling out, “Kim, your date is here.” He then ushered me into the hall.

I heard the click of heels above me, and then Kim appeared and elegantly descended the stairs. I had always admired her from afar and considered her one of the most beautiful girls in school. This vision clad in a blue sleeveless dress took my breath away. Perched on high heels that accentuated her long legs and with her breasts leading the way, I immediately fell in lust.

I stood there like an idiot with my jaw gaping, and my eyes bulging out as I watched her descend and she seemed to float towards me.

“Oh, Ray, are those for me?” she said as she looked at the corsage. “Those white roses and delphiniums will go so well with my dress. Would you pin it on for me?”

“Uh…where shall I pin it?” I stammered.

“Well, it normally is pinned to my chest on the right-hand side,” she said with a grin. “Now, make sure you don’t stick the pin in me. Please.”

I moved close to her and looked at where I had to pin the damned thing, realizing the only spot would be just over the curve of her breast, thrusting forward from her chest. Blushing furiously, I reached out and curved my fingers into her cleavage to part the material from her skin so as not to stick the pin into that soft, warm flesh that I could now feel against the back of my fingers. The operation complete, I removed my fingers as fast as I could.

“Thank you,” she said. “I must say you look very handsome.”

“Uh, thanks, you are stunning,” I replied, blushing.

“Well, shall we go?”

“How are we getting there?” Kim asked.

“Your chariot awaits, my lady,” I said, leading her to the car and holding the door open for her. As she slid into the seat, she inadvertently revealed her elegant thigh as her legs parted to get in.

I got into the diver’s seat and started the engine.

“Since when are you driving?” she asked.

“It’s been a year, but tonight is my first-time solo. Before this, dad was my co-pilot, so I guess tonight you get the job,” I said with a grin.

As we entered the gym, I felt everybody stare at us. I led Kim to a small table and offered to get us a drink. On my return, she was surrounded by a group of her girlfriends and their dates. I could not help overhear one of the jocks ask her what the hell she was doing with me as a date. She glanced up, saw me and said, “Over here, Ray.”

The immediate effect was the prompt departure of all of her cronies. I served her drink and sat down next to her. “What’s that you’re drinking, Vodka,” she asked, looking at my glass.

“No, it’s just seltzer water. I don’t drink alcohol. My coach has us under stringent rules. No drinking or smoking.”

“Your coach? In what? I didn’t know you were involved in sports.”

“I am. I work out four days a week. I am what is called a young hopeful on the US Judo squad.”

“What are the young hopefuls?”

“We are the ones who hope to be accepted for the next Olympic team in four years.”

“You that good?”

“I’m not sure I am. However, several people think I might have a chance.”

“Ray, may I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure.”

“Why is your girlfriend not here with you tonight? Why me?”

“Kim, I don’t have a girlfriend. You are the first young lady I have ever been out with.”

“Why?”

“Why don’t I have a girlfriend, or why you?’

“No, the girlfriend bit. You must be interested in girls, I presume.”

“Definitely am, however, not only don’t I have a girlfriend, but I also don’t have any friends. Too many hours of training plus keeping up my class averages takes all my time. My history of different schools has proven to be to my detriment.”

“How so?”

“Kim, I have been to eight different schools in four different cities in three different countries to get this far.”

“Wow! That must have been a drag.”

It must have shown on my face what a drag it had been. Kim stood up, took my hand and said, “Come on. Let’s dance.”

“Kim, I don’t know how to dance.”

“I do. I’ll teach you.” She led me to the furthest secluded corner of the dance floor, and with exquisite patience, she showed me the steps and how to move my body. She was an excellent teacher, and by following her moves, I was soon making an ungainly approximation of dancing.

“Ray, relax and let your body flow to the rhythm.”

She sounded exactly like my coach as he taught us Kata forms in Judo. The ritualized forms developed to show the students mastery over the minutest detail of a move. Hell, I thought to myself this is much easier to do. I started to relax, and soon Kim said, “Wow! What have I unleashed? You look as if you have been dancing for years.”

I realized that I was having fun and that Kim was not as daunting as I thought she would be.

We danced and talked for the whole evening until one of the band called out last dance. Kim took my hand and took me to the middle of the other dancers. The music started, and it was different than what we had been dancing to previously. She moved right up to me and placed her arms around my neck. I looked at the other dancers and saw the boys were holding their dates around the waist, so I copied them.

This was different. I could smell Kim’s perfume and feel her supple body against mine. We swayed to the music as she led me through some easy steps which seemed designed to keep us glued together while moving around the dance floor. Kim rested her head against my chest, and I could feel the warmth of her body against mine.

I felt myself get an erection and tried to move my lower body away from her; however, she kept her pelvis glued to me. She stopped a moment and murmured in my ear, “Enjoy, don’t fight it. It’s okay.”

I gave in to the pure pleasure of holding her, feeling her breasts against my chest and our pelvises grinding together. The lights dimmed, and she lifted her face to mine, and our lips met in the first kiss I had received in my life. Her lips parted, and I felt her tongue in my mouth.

oOo

Kim

In a way, it was Donnie Dagle’s fault for being such a jerk while Ray was getting the drinks. After he made that snide remark, I felt more determined than ever to make up for his rudeness and show Ray a good time.

Before long, I was having a good time too. Ray was different from the cookie-cutter team jocks who saw me as little more than a trophy with legs, a polished prize to be shown off on a Saturday night. The living doll who would nod and smile on cue during Coke-fueled rehashes of last week’s big game.

Ray asked which of my studies interested me the most and what I liked to do when not in school. When his expression was winsome and attentive as I answered, I admit I was flustered at first, not being used to a two-way conversation on a date. But I liked the feeling very much.

And when I tried to get him to open up a little more about his Olympic judo ambitions - my gosh; Doug Taylor would have plastered it on billboards - he seemed surprisingly modest about it all and changed the subject.

The flow of conversation was at full-throttle when the Hadley-Bryant Band began, ‘It’s Not for Me to Say.’ Impulsively, I asked Ray to dance.

He told me he’d never learned how, and a secret thrill rippled through me, a sense of being the worldly older woman who could introduce an attractive novice like Ray to something new and exciting.

I just never imagined it would go this far.

Ray inhaled a gentle quiver when my lips touched his. I let my eyes telegraph a quick ‘Don’t be afraid’ before closing them and trusting his hesitation to melt away once unobserved.

He kissed me back, and it began with the same tender awkwardness I found endearing when his fingers fumbled to pin the corsage. I slipped an encouraging thumb tip against the corner of his mouth to coax it open, which helped him relax enough for my tongue to draw his out to play.

Yes, I’d kissed Doug Taylor. And Brent Larochelle. And Wayne Carter, and a few others of the school’s athletic A-listers, antiseptic presses redolent of Certs, locker room and Aqua Velva. All through lips as carefully latched as a clutch purse, all chaperoned by the porch lantern’s tungsten stare, enough to convey appreciation for a good time while letting them know the date was over.

Not one of them had penetrated the Hazel Bishop I’d apply for the occasion, or even made me want them to. Yet here I was, coming on to the boy next door and unable to contain myself any longer.

Ray’s confidence gained momentum, and so did the pressure of his hand low on my back as he pulled me closer. The ironclad evidence of his enjoyment burrowed into the tulle and found soft, undulating hospitality beneath.

Even Mays Hadley, who’d sung flat for most of the evening, was now perfectly pitched and determined to out-croon Nat’s ‘Send For Me’ as our bodies momentarily stilled against one another and let an unleashed, blended longing take over the dance.

Just as the sensations were flinging stars behind my eyelids, the band swung into ‘All Shook Up,’ it’s jaunty tempo a chisel knocking us apart.

We giggled at the same time, and I knew everything would be all right. Our steps fell into the rest of the room’s assembly-line rhythm once more.

oOo

Ray

All too soon, the dance ended. I realized this had been one of the best evenings of my life. Something had happened to me that seemed to open whole new vistas of pleasure for the future.

I had discovered girls. Not the plastic version represented by the unrealistic bimbos portrayed in magazines such as Playboy and Hustler, not the intimidating gigglers and shallow classmates. Kim was real, vibrant and fun. Notwithstanding her reputation as a jock groupie and as such presumably superficial, she was intelligent and vivacious, not to mention stunning to my eyes.

That final kiss as the dance ended made me feel as if I was floating on air. My nostrils were permeated with the sensual aroma of the perfume Kim was wearing if indeed it was perfume and not just her natural fragrance. My lips and mouth could still sense the passion of her kiss and the feel of her tongue parting my lips and invading my mouth to search out my tongue.

As I took her arm to escort her out, I could feel her breast pressing against my arm as we walked to the car. I marveled again at the sensuality of her body. The slight grazing of my hand against her breast as I had pinned on the corsage at the start of the evening still sent a shiver through my body as I thought about it.

I opened the car door, and she slithered in, and I was rewarded with another glimpse of her thigh as her dress rode up against the leather car seat.

I realized that again my gallant reflex betrayed me as I hastily adjusted my erection so that it would not be evident before opening my car door.

oOo

Kim

On the drive home, neon streams lining Route 9 sizzled their serial invitations to dine, drink and dance. It was mild enough to cruise with the windows rolled down, the night wind sweet with discovery and freshly baked bread from Freihofer’s late shift. Traffic signals winked in gumdrop colors; street-light moons scudded intermittently across our parallel silhouettes.

As we chatted over the radio’s faint accompaniment, I watched Ray’s hands smoothly maneuver the steering and gearshift. Even his class ring was low-profile instead of the usual chunky, sweater-snagging kind the school jocks usually wore. These were very much a man’s hands, broad and sinewed with his life’s efforts.

They were capable of radiating heat I could still feel through my dress. The perfume I’d dabbed hours ago alchemized my awakening into a heady blend that made me wish it could be bottled. Lanvin’s Lure? L’air de Lust?

Inside, I was singing, still flush with exhilaration. Taking the initiative was new to me. It made me feel strong, not in a dominant way, but alive to my purpose as a woman.

I really liked Ray. More than that, thrummed my vital signs.

“Your boyfriend isn’t going to challenge me to a duel, is he?” On the flying heels of our banter, his question seemed rhetorical.

“You mean Doug? You’re the judo champ - you could handle him, couldn’t you?” I answered in a coquettish lilt.

The dashboard glow limned his profile’s momentary seriousness, his striking features shaded in film-noir repose.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Ray.” I began to fashion lassos from the purse strap. “We’ve been on a couple of double dates, and he was the first one to ask me to the prom, but we’re not going steady if that’s what you mean.”

He clicked the directional arm as we approached Broadway and Maple. “Then he’s either blind, or he’s crazy.”

It wasn’t just his words; it was the resonance with which he said them, the clench of his hands on the wheel as he navigated left. I remembered what he’d told me about having no time for girlfriends. My heart pumped a dejected thud at the probability that it would be no different for me. Wasn’t it wrong to stir feelings within him that were best left alone?

The Wildcat Lounge’s scarlet letters shimmied through the windshield, minus the ‘o’.

There was an alternate world of girls who weren’t girlfriends. Girls who were rumors, hushed mysteries, groped in seclusion to mollify a young man’s incessant need.

Girls I’d looked down upon... until now.

Despite sudden weakness that jellied my limbs, I managed to ease myself incrementally across the leather bench’s coolness until my flank nestled against Ray’s.

The car braked for a stop sign a block from our street. His attention turned from the road toward me, eyes dark with disbelief yet craving conversion.

“How crazy are you, Ray?”

His name was the last sound we heard before his lips silenced all but our breathing, which swelled to small craft warnings as one hand grazed his temple, then gale force as the other crept softly into his lap.

I broke the kiss long enough to gasp the socially unthinkable: “I’d like to see you again.”

oOo

Ray

I broke reluctantly from the kiss to look deep into Kim’s eyes. “How crazy am I? Right now, I’m crazy enough to believe that you just said that you’d like to see me again. I’m also crazy enough to believe I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you.”

“You sure it’s love? Could it be lust?” Kim asked me with a wistful smile on her face.

“Kim, I honestly don’t know, I’ve never experienced feelings like this before. I think I know what lust is. God knows I’ve lusted after many girls, after all. I have, despite being maybe a bit of a nerd in most people’s eyes, the same urges most men have.”

Her hand slid up my thigh and slowly brushed across my cock as her tongue lasciviously licked her lips. I instantly went from semi-erect to rampant. Her eyes grew wide as saucers as she gasped in astonishment.

“Where have you been hiding that?” she asked as she undid my belt and slowly lowered the zipper on my trousers. Her hand slid into my boxers, and her small hand attempted to wrap itself around my penis.

I was in an agony of ecstasy as she pulled out my member and leaning forward, planted a soft and tender kiss on my cockhead. I felt her soft velvety tongue lick around the mushroom head and suck it tenderly between her lips.

She then sat up abruptly and blurted out, “Oh my God, what’s come over me? I’ve never done anything like this before. What have you done to me?”

“I don’t know what I have done to you, but I now know that I have just fallen passionately in love with you. Yes, I definitely want to see you again. Will you be my girlfriend, Kim?”

“You’re just saying that because you want the sex.”

“Sure, I want the sex, but even more, I want to be with you. I have enjoyed every second of our time together and I want the opportunity to get to know you in all possible ways.” With that, I took off my class ring and took her dainty hand and placed it on her index finger. “Kim, will you go steady with me?”

She clasped her fist shut around the ring, looked at me and melted into my arms. “Yes, Ray, I would be proud to go steady with you. Now please kiss me.”

An eternity later, she broke the kiss. “Ray, you know that yours’s is the first penis I have ever touched.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m a virgin in every sense of the word.”

“But what about the guys you dated previously?”

“I’ve been groped, but none of them has had the privilege of touching more than my breasts.”

“So that makes us both virgins. The only breast I’ve felt has been yours when I pinned on the corsage earlier tonight.”

“Please take it off now.”

I reached up and carefully unpinned it from her dress. She took my hand and placed it on her breast seemed to think for a second and lowered her dress to expose her tit to me. “Touch it. Please play with it.”

I cupped that delightful roundness in my palm and rubbed my hand across it as Kim moaned with pleasure. Taking her into my arms at the same time, I kissed her passionately.

Our pleasure was short-lived as out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kim’s father walking down the street towards us.

Kim hastily covered the object that would be the focus of my dreams and got out of the car to greet her father.

oOo

Kim

Dad! Is everything all right? Is Mom okay?”

I tried to sound as alarmed as possible, which wasn’t difficult. From the ironclad set of his jaw, a look I hadn’t seen since Jersey Brannigan’s runaway pass shattered our picture window, I knew my only hope - and Ray’s - was to go on the offensive. I stepped directly in front of him and into the line of fire - anything to stall for time.

“Your mother thought she saw you coming down the block. That was ten minutes ago, young lady. What do you think you’re up to?”

“We were just - “

“All your dates bring you to the front door, Kim. All of them. Those are the rules. You can tell Ray,” he shook a pointed fist over my shoulder, “that there’s no exception for prom night.”

“He knows. And he will -”

“Well, how long is it going to take?”

“Dad, will you listen?” I kept my tone low to harmonize with the neighborhood’s hush. “It’s my fault. I was trying to talk Ray into going for a soda at Ned’s with the rest of the gang. But he told me he has to get up early to train for a competition.” I fervently hoped that was true. Then, as if I were offering him more mashed potatoes at supper, “If you like, we can walk from here?”

His arms folded in ultimatum mode. “You’ve got three minutes to say your goodnights - at the front door. Your mother’s anxious to hear all about the dance, so don’t keep her waiting.”

His shoulders rigid as carpenter’s squares, he turned and marched toward the house.

“I had a wonderful time, Ray.”

We faced each other, not touching, not wanting to arouse further suspicion. I could almost feel Dad’s glare boring through the closed front door.

“Thank you for everything.” I touched the hastily re-pinned corsage, wishing it were Ray’s fingers on the cusp of my neckline once more.

“We’ll take a rain check on Ned’s, okay?” he smiled.

I had to hand it to him for being such a quick study. “Sure. You know where to find me.”

Any fear that Dad’s protectiveness might have deterred Ray’s ardor, melted under his confident gaze. “Goodnight, Kim.” The words brimmed with all the intimacy of a kiss, all the promise of continuing what began moments ago.

As I watched him depart, envious of the shadows that enfolded him, I remembered the ring and twisted it off and into my purse. I saw no need to incite further interrogations - at least for tonight.

“Well, if it isn’t the cradle robber,” Jean caroled over the phone.

“Always good to hear from you, Donnie.” I pinched a coil from the laminated-Slinky wire and fought the urge to hang up.

“Aw, don’t be like that, Kim. I’m just joking. You two looked pretty cozy on the dance floor last night. So is the new guy a good kisser? Did he take you to Lake Lane afterward?”

“His name is Ray, and of course, we didn’t.” Thank goodness she couldn’t see what must have been a flush even a heavy hand of Maybelline couldn’t match. Had Dad not decided to launch a one-man search party, who knew where we might have gone - and how far? “What about you and Ritchie?” I deflected.

She snapped at the bait. “Oh, we went to Ned’s with Patsy and Travis. Guess who we ran into? Did you know that... “

I barely listened to the gossip that rattled over the line like a broken gumball machine, trying not to blurt out the biggest headline of all: that Ray and I were now going steady.

“You remember Tom Shafer from Clifton Park? Jessie brought him as her date. Nice guy, but two left feet... “

After bidding Ray goodnight, enduring Mom’s round of Twenty Questions and pleading sudden fatigue to get to my room sooner, I hung up the cloud of my dress and slipped on Ray’s ring. Its facets cast colored starlight from the mirror when I reached to undo my bra. As the lace fell away, I couldn’t keep from cupping the emancipated curves and seeing them as he saw them: invitations to touch, to kiss, to gather for his enjoyment.

“... and her new shoes got all scuffed. The only dates she’ll have the rest of the weekend will be with Esquire and a buff brush... “

And when his palm had brushed their startled eagerness, glowing filaments showered through my belly and kindled a wildfire of awareness where I’d had none before. I crept between the sheets, slipped a hand beneath my briefs, and gasped at how so much heat and moisture could coexist without one consuming the other.

Had Ray felt the same insane thrill when... Ohh. A finger stirred a sensitive crest. I stroked again, feverish, longing to enter his universe. Was he doing the same thing right then? Where was his hand positioned on that massiveness; where did it feel the best for him? Would he ever let me know?

I lay like that for most of the night, hovering on the edge of wonder but afraid to take the exploration any further. When I showered in the morning, my hands were slick with more than soap. It filled me with indecent happiness that it would enable Ray to...

Jean’s soliloquy crossed the finish line with a flourish. “So, I’ll see you at Cherie’s at one, right?”

“Um, I can’t make it,” I lied. We were scheduled to join the ranks of the bobbed and permed, but I’d canceled my appointment moments ago, wanting Ray to see my long hair freed from its usual do. “Nena Harris is coming over,” I rushed on. “Have to help Mom get the place ready. As a matter of fact, she needs me now. I gotta run, call you later, okay?”

Alone with my thoughts and the chatter of bluejays, I exhaled worry. Fear clenched its ice-cold fist inside my stomach. Oh gosh. The things I did that felt so right, so natural in the dark, suddenly struck me as crude and whorish under daylight’s microscope.

Would Ray be disgusted with my forward behavior now that it was the morning after? What kind of ‘nice girl’ let a man feel her breasts or touched - let alone mouthed - his hardness on the first date? Would he change his mind about wanting to see me again?

Before I could breathe in, the phone jangled. Probably, one of my other friends with another crack about dating a younger man. Might as well face the music.

“Hello?”

“Kim?” Just one note, but its resonance sweetened my pulse like warm maple syrup.

“Ray,” I smiled.

oOo

Ray

Her voice sent a shiver down my spine. I had spent the night in a state of turmoil imagining the feel of her tongue against mine and the softness of her breast. I finally attained sleep after pleasuring myself with the vision of her nubile body in my mind. Imagining her unclad and offered in sacrifice to my rampant desires.

“Kim, I just want to tell you that last night was a night which will be engraved in my mind forever.”

“Oh, Ray, as it will in mine. When can we get together again?”

“You really, honestly, want to see me. You were not just toying with me last night.”

“How can you say that? I accepted your ring. Do you think that I am that type of girl?”

“I’m sorry, Kim. It’s just that I don’t have much experience in dealing with women as I told you.”

“I understand, Ray, would you let me be your muse as we navigate these uncharted waters?”

“I wish I could tell you what you made me feel. I’m not sure what would offend you if I said it.”

“Ray, let’s make a deal. You can tell me anything and permit me to do the same. How does that sound?”

“Uhm… okay. You’re sure?”

“Yes, you idiot, I’m sure. I want to know all your thoughts, your feelings, your dreams. I want it all.”

“Well, let’s start with my dreams. I dreamt of you last night.”

“Really!” she said with a giggle. “What did you dream of about me?”

“I dreamt that we had gone someplace secluded and kissed passionately.”

“Oh! So did I. What else?”

“I had slipped my hand down the front of your dress and toyed with your breasts. I was amazed at how soft and firm they had felt to my touch.”

“Oh! Ray that would be just a delight. Then what?”

“Your nipples grew firm under my touch, and I lowered your dress and kissed them and sucked on them. You tasted heavenly. Kim, what is that sound?”

“I’m moaning with pleasure imagining your mouth and tongue on me. Tell me more.”

“You took my hand and placed it on your thigh under your dress. I caressed your soft flesh, and you took my hand and placed it higher where I could feel your panties.”

“Please, Ray, keep on. You are making me wet and excited.”

“I am? You’re not offended?”

“No, I’m not. You’re making me excited and wishing it had happened. Please, more darling, tell me more, tell me what else did we do?”

“You pushed your panties aside, and I felt a delicious warmth and wetness as I touched you there.”

“Where is there, Ray?”

“Your private parts.”

“You mean my pussy?”

“Yes.”

“Say it tell me where you touched me.”

“Uh… your pussy.”

“See, that was not that hard, was it? Then what did you do?”

“Unfortunately, at that point, I woke up. I was very aroused to tell you the truth.”

“Did you do anything about it?”

“Kim, I’m blushing. Yes, I did. I never thought I would be telling you about that.”

“Ray, I want to hear all about it,” I could hear her voice get husky, and a low moan escaped her lips.

“Well, I wrapped my hand around my erection and…”

“Are you hard now?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Take it out and start stroking it. I have my panties down, and I am fingering myself. Your dream got me so horny.”

“Okay,” I replied and wrapped my hand around my cock.

“You doing it?”

“Yes.”

“How does it feel? I wish we were doing it together. My fingers are rubbing my pussy, and I have just slipped a couple of fingers into my hot sheaf. I can picture you running your hand up and down your cock. If you were here, I would help you and even kiss and lick it.”

“You would? I can only imagine how good your mouth and tongue would feel.”

“Mmmm. Ray, I am getting closer to having an orgasm. I’m rolling my clit between my fingers and caressing my breasts and nipples. Oh, Ray, I’m cumming. You’ve made me cum, my love.”

“Me too, Kim, My God, I have never cum that much in my life,” I said with a halting breath.

“Was it good for you? I know that mine was very intense.”

“Kim, I will be dreaming of this forever.”

“There’s no need to dream, my sweets. I want you to have my body. I will even be happy to give you that prize that most men dream of.”

“What’s that?

“My virginity, doofus,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.”

Kim

What had just happened? Ray wasn’t even in the room with me, but the sound of him and imagining what he was doing was enough to drive me into a frenzy. I rubbed where my skin responded, ‘Oh, yes!’ and pressed harder until I felt a surge of uncorked wonder, its spume a celebratory burst through my limbs. I couldn’t help but cry out, and his answering groan made me the happiest woman on Earth.

As I eased my panties up to recover the blushing, astonished gape of my sex, still melted atop the sheets, the knock hit me like gunshots.

“Open this door, Kim,” the clipped tone insisted.

“Just a minute! I’m getting dressed,” I called back. Guilt strained my pitch to that of a warbling piccolo. Even the bed wanted no part of my mother’s wrath and bounced me from its premises.

“We need to talk. Downstairs. Now!”

The Formica table doubled as a judge’s bench, The Honorable Mom presiding over the opposite end. Court was now in session.

“Who were you talking to, Kim?”

“Jean.” I crossed my fingers under the chair. Well, it was half-true.

“I know what I heard. And you’re one wrong answer away from losing your telephone privileges - at best. So. Which one of your boyfriends decided to do the end-run around our rules? Doug?”

I searched the linoleum tile patterns for the right response. Was this the time to tell her?

“Perhaps Mrs. Taylor will want to know what her son is up to.” Mom rose and whirled toward the wall phone.

“No! It wasn’t Doug. Mom, sit down, please?”

She remained by the countertop, a sentry carved from ice.

I lifted my hand and swiveled Ray’s ring until the stone flashed into view. “Last night, Ray and I decided to go steady.”

It was Mom’s turn to be silent. Her eyes darkened with judgment.

“And that makes what you did, right?”

“You don’t understand--”

“I understand you’ve been on one date,” she exploded. “I understand you barely know each other.” She sank into her chair, and the next words bit into my heart. “As a last-minute escort, he was fine. But it’s not suitable for you to get serious about someone like Ray.”

“What do you mean?” I bristled.

“He’s too young, for one thing. And he’s, well, from another country, a different cultural background. Opposites might attract, but they don’t make for long-term happiness.”

It dawned on me what she was implying. “Haven’t you and Dad always taught me that prejudice is wrong? Now you’re saying Ray’s good enough to live next door to us, but not good enough to fall in love with me?”

“Love! What would a boy like that know about love? He’s following his hormones, that’s all. He just proved it, didn’t he? Kim, how could you let him lead you astray like that?”

“Mom, I was the one who kissed him first! I was the one who led him astray!”

She flinched as if struck.

“I’m sorry, Mom. But I’ve never felt this way about anyone before - not even Doug. Remember, I kept asking you how I’d know which boy was the right one? And you said, ‘You’ll know.’”

Her brow creased in disbelief. “And you think you know now?”

“Yes. I think Ray’s the one.”

“Then he would have waited for you like a gentleman instead of turning you into a-- “

“Into what, Mom? A woman?”

“That’s enough, Kimberly Leigh! I’m nipping this foolishness in the bud right now. You’ll give the ring back and forget about seeing him again. On second thought, give it to me, and I’ll do it. I can’t picture Ray’s mother approving of this going-steady arrangement, either.”

“No!” I leaped to my feet and knotted my fingers protectively behind my back. “You have no right to treat me like a child! Because I’m not!”

“You’re our responsibility. I certainly don’t want to tell your father what happened. But if you won’t listen to reason, you’ll leave me no choice.”

Visions of fists and feuds and worse flashed before my eyes. My dad’s temper was notorious, and Judo or no judo, I feared for Ray’s safety.

“At least let me return the ring,” I sighed in momentary defeat. “It’s what an adult would do.”

“No time like the present.” She pointed at the back door. “I’ll give you five minutes.”

I trotted barefoot across the lawn, forming a plan of my own. There were some things Mom didn’t need to know, either.

oOo

Ray

“Hey, twinkle toes, do you know that you have beautiful feet?” I said,  looking down at my pedicured feet. “Why the tears, what’s wrong?”

“My mother doesn’t see you as the right choice for me at this time in my life. She wants me to return your ring and for us to renounce our plan to go steady,” she said, holding out the ring to him. I felt as the return would tear my heart in two.

“Is that what you want to do, Kim?”

“No damn it. Ray, I want you. I want us to be an item to date and enjoy the feelings you have opened in me. Ray, I can’t believe what has happened or how fast it has happened, but I am in love with you.”

“Well there is a saying in Judo ‘The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.’”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“We are reeds. Your mother the oak in her anger. The storm is directed at her and anger never wins in the end. I can see her looking this way. Make as if you are giving me the ring, but keep it in your hand and conceal it. I will not take it back.”

“But, Ray…”

“Don’t but me, Kim. We will find a way to weather this storm. After all, we will be seeing each other in school and will find a way to defeat her. I am a winner, and now that I have found you, I can assure you I will not lose you. Trust me. Oh! And no more tears, you have the most wonderful smile. Now go back and tell her you have returned the ring.”

“Okay.”

“Kim, you do have beautiful feet. I just want to kiss them.”

I watched her smile before she turned back and sauntered to her house.

oOo

Kim

Mom was waiting. Her expression masked behind the screen’s glare. Was she moved at all by Ray’s theatrical frown of hurt, abrupt about-face, the savagery with which he shoved his hand into his pocket? Or was she savoring my defeat?

“Are you happy now?” I sobbed as I pushed past her, a balled-up fist at my cheek to blot thespian tears.

Not trusting myself to remain in character, I charged through the blurred hallway to my room, where the faint musk from our wired breathlessness reminded me to smile.

The dresser drawer slid open with complicit quiet. I unclenched my wet hand and watched the smuggled ring bounce happily into its safe house. As I rearranged soft cotton ripples to conceal it, I vowed that was the last time I would ever wear pocketless shorts.

Ray was right. We would find a way to continue what we started. No matter what Mom or anyone else said, it felt too right not to.

“Kim!”

The dismissal bell’s metallic roar ended with my name, and it took an extra second to realize the voice wasn’t the one I wanted.

“I’ve been hoping to run into you. I even tried calling.”

“Oh, hi, Doug.” I grabbed my sweater and clanked the locker shut. “How’s the ankle?”

He shrugged above his crutches. “I should be off these in a couple of weeks or so. Thing is, I wanted to ask if you’d come to a movie with me this Friday. Twin Pines is opening for the summer.”

I stared at the bandaged bloat of his foot. Other than that minor detail, he was Mr. Perfect. For someone else, I decided.

“Oh, I can drive all right,” he reassured me. “We could go to Ned’s first. What do you say?”

“Friday?” I struggled to suppress the leap of joy as Ray’s silhouette carved the end of the corridor. “I’m sorry, Doug. I can’t.”

Not the answer the school’s most popular jock was expecting. Flag-striped annoyance etched his brow. “You have another date.”

“I’ve made other plans, Doug. Please respect that?”

His frown gave way to a cocky smirk. “Call me if you change your mind.”

I waved a relieved good-bye and hurried away. I had maybe thirty seconds before Jean would catch up with me and chaperone the walk home.

Ray was leaning against a distant locker and I slowed my stride upon approach. The moon caught helplessly by Earth.

“Meet me tomorrow after class? Northwest corner of Crandall Park?”

He could have said Siberia. Or Jupiter. The ‘yes’ that flew from my eyes to his would have answered each one.

oOo

Ray

I rushed to Crandall Park and sat below a tree and waited patiently for Kim to arrive. I finally saw her in the distance and got up to go and meet her when I noticed a familiar car driving slowly and keeping her in its sights. ‘Shit! That’s Kim’s father.”

I scurried behind some bushes and out of view, hoping that Kim would pass close to where I lurked. As she approached, I hissed, “Kim, don’t look this way. I am behind the bushes to your right. Your father is cruising behind you.”

“Stay there. I’ll be back,” she said and nonchalantly looked back and picked up something off the ground. As she picked up a pebble or something, she spotted her dad’s car. She promptly marched to it, and the car halted next to her.

I could only hear her voice faintly, but at that distance, she must have been shouting, and she looked angry. Suddenly the car sped up, and she returned to where I was hiding.

“Are you in trouble?” I asked as she got close.

“No. However, my parents are. I told my dad I would not forget or forgive his lack of trust in me.”

“Well, I’d better let you go as I think I have done enough damage already.”

“Ray, don’t you dare. I have decided that I don’t care what my parents think. I want you in my life, and that, to me, is what counts. Come out of those bushes and give me a hug and a kiss.”

“But what if he is watching?”

“I’ve told him that if he or mom try to interfere in my life, I was ready to move out and live on my own. I realize that they are trying to protect me, but with you, I don’t need their protection. I want to be with you, and that’s all there is to it.”

“But Kim, where would you go?”

“I come into a substantial sum of money starting next week on my birthday. It comes from a trust fund left to me by granddad, so I can go and live on my own.”

“You would do that to be with me?”

“Ray, I would do anything to be with you. Anything! Now, are you going to come out of there, or do I have to drag you out and ravish you right here and now.”

I scrambled out, and we wrapped our arms around each other. Kim lifted her face to mine and said, “Kiss me, Ray. I have been aching all week to feel your kiss again. Not to mention aching in other places,” she said blushing.

Our kiss seemed to last for an eternity. Our bodies melded together and I felt the pressure of her breasts against my chest. Her pelvis ground against me with urgency.

“Oh, I’m so happy. I can feel you have risen to the occasion,” she said giggling.

It was now my turn to blush.

“Ray, where can we go to have some privacy?”

I gave it some thought and said, “We are five minutes away from the Judo school, and it’s empty at this time. I have the key.”

“Lead the way, McDuff.”

“Kim, do you realize what could happen if we went there?”

“Oh, yes. I’m counting on it. I have decided that YOU are going to relieve me of my pearl of great price.”

“Do you mean…”

“Yes. I do mean.”

The two-block walk to the dojo seemed to last forever. My mind reeled at what we were about to do.

I finally opened the door and led her into the practice hall. No sooner were we in that she smiled at me and unbuttoned her blouse. I stepped behind her and unclasped her bra, then turned her to face me. Her arms were folded over her breasts. Smiling at me, she held out her arms to embrace me. Her breasts were, in my view, just perfect. Firm and slightly pear-shaped with pink areolas on which perched mouth-watering hard nipples.

I lowered my mouth to kiss them. The kisses gave way to teasing them with my tongue. I listened to her moan at each contact of my tongue.

She asked me to straighten up and pulled my t-shirt over my head. The embrace which followed had her breasts against my chest, and I felt I was in seventh heaven.

Softly kissing me, I felt her hand lower the zipper on my jeans before dragging them off my hips. Her hand plunged down and made its way into my boxers. She gasped when she felt my erection. I think it was the hardest it had ever been. Kneeling in front of me, she lowered my boxers and gazed at my erection.

“Ray, I knew you were big; however, I never expected you to be this big.”

Her hand tried to wrap itself around it, but her fingers did not meet. The contact had my cock already oozing pre-cum.”

“Kim, I want you to know that I have never done anything like this.”

“Neither have I, darling.”

‘Darling’

“Just be gentle with me, please.”

Her tongue took a tentative lick at the drop of pre-cum, and she drew back to savor it.

“Mmmm, tasty,” she said, smiling at me before she brought her head back and engulfed my glans with her pretty mouth while her hand stroked up and down my length. I loved the warmth of her mouth and the intimacy of what she was doing. I could feel my testicles becoming turgid, and my penis was starting to throb.

“Kim, stop.”

She looked up and asked, “Don’t you like this?”

“I love it, but I want to be able to pleasure you.”

As she stood, I undid her jeans and watched as she shimmied her hips till they fell around her ankles.

She stepped out of them and kicked off her sneakers. She then twirled around in place to give me a panoramic view of her body.

Her pink panties seemed to be molded to her body and hid very little from my lecherous gaze. Her behind was a thing of beauty, and I almost started to drool at how delectable it looked. As she faced me, I saw that it had formed a wet camel toe at the juncture of her long legs.

I knelt in front of her and slid the tiny piece of cloth down her hips. I could smell the fragrance of her arousal, and for the first time, I was facing a naked woman. Her labia were shiny with a coating of juices that oozed out of her. I picked her up and carried her to one of the couches that lined the room.

Placing her on her back, I put one of her legs over the back of the couch and let the other dangle to the floor. Here was the woman of my dreams splayed out before me for my pleasure. I knelt between her thighs and looked intently at her pussy a little bit at a loss as to what I should do next.

My question was answered when she wrapped her legs around my shoulders and pulled my face towards her core. Her pussy was in front of my eyes. I reached out with my tongue to give it a lick. “Delicious,” I mumbled and proceeded to run my tongue on either side of her flower.

Each lick produced a moan from Kim. I saw her opening and stabbed my tongue in it. The taste was like an aphrodisiac, a combination of tart and sweet with an almost creamy texture. I lapped at her opening while Kim pulled me in tighter with her legs.

“Don’t stop,” she cried between moans. Her behind wriggled and humped my face trying to get more of my tongue into her sweet hole. A few minutes of my ministrations and all of a sudden, she screamed, “I’m going to cum. Good lord, that is sooo good.”

Cum she did, lathering my mouth tongue and chin with her love juices.

Lying panting and out of breath, Kim released me and asked, “Ray, where did you learn to eat out a woman so well?”

“You liked what I did?”

“Liked it? I loved it! It was incredible. I have never come so hard in my life. I had no idea it could be that intense. Now I want to feel you in me. I want you to make me a woman, Ray.”

“I’m afraid I’m not sure how to go about it.”

“Let me help. I believe I know what to do.”

She sat up and took my rigid cock and tugged me towards her. Spreading her legs and raising her knees, she fed my shaft into the entrance to her pussy. I felt my cock head surrounded by her hot flesh. “Now gently, please put it all in me slowly.”

I edged it forward millimeter by millimeter till I hit an obstruction. Kim again wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me forward hard. I felt my cock suddenly penetrate her as she gave a loud yelp. “Don’t move,” she cried out, and I froze in place.

“Give me a minute to get used to you in me.”

I leaned forward and kissed her. Our tongues intertwined, and I loved how her nipples bored into my chest. Her pussy started to grip me more tightly, and she said, “Now pound that lovely cock in and out of me.”

Glad to oblige, I did just that and soon had her moaning again. I could feel my testicles slamming against her butt on each stroke. Her internal muscles were gripping my throbbing cock, and it felt as if it was being milked.

“Faster,” she begged, and I gladly obliged thrusting in and out of her like a piston. My cock was throbbing, and I could feel the imminent explosion nearing.

Kim yelled, “I’m coming,” and my cock was bathed in her hot juices, which immediately triggered my orgasm.

I collapsed on her as we wrapped our arms around each other.

“Thank you, Ray,” she said haltingly. “Not only have you made me a woman, but you’ve also made me a happy woman. Please, don’t ever leave me.”

To be continued…