Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 A Rose By Any Other Name By Jeremy Spencer Copyright 2004

   All rights reserved.  This story may be downloaded for personal use, but
any posting to a website, free or otherwise, is strictly forbidden.  If you
have found this story somewhere other than my page
(/~Jeremy_Spencer/) or at Storiesonline, please let me
know by filling in a feedback form at either place.

   Author's Note: The following is a fictional story.  In it, fictional
characters have hot, sweaty, unprotected, fictional sex.  They live in a
fictional world without fictional diseases.  You do not.  Be careful.  All
characters in this story are old enough to know what they're doing.  Now,
on to the show!

   *****



   Part One

   I don't remember the exact date I first saw her, but it was probably a
Tuesday, because at the time Tuesday was really the only day I had
available for drinking.  It's shocking how much of an effect graduating
from college and having a real job can have on the amount of time a person
spends partying per week, but it does.

   So, if it was a Tuesday and I was drinking then I would most certainly
have been at Pablo's.  Pablo's Tavern is the place my buddies from the
music department and I used to hang out, back in our undergrad days.  Since
graduation however, I was pretty much the only one of the gang still
hanging around campus, so I drank alone.

   I know that sounds pathetic.  I don't think it is, but maybe I'm wrong.
I always used to laugh at people who just couldn't leave school, for
whatever reason, so I suppose at first glance it is pretty sad, but it
wasn't...  not really.  Like a few people I knew, I floated aimlessly for a
few months after graduation, living life as I had during college and
basically ignoring any grownup responsibilities I might have had.  I told
people I was setting aside a few weeks to "discover myself," although I'm
pretty sure my father didn't much care for my rationalization.

   So, I wasted the summer after my senior year.  I finally came to the
decision, based more on my lack of motivation in the workplace than any
real desire to better myself, to return to school.  A couple of my music
professors, and my advisor Dr.  Bergerud in particular, had made it clear
that if I began my post-graduate studies in the fall I would have an office
in the music department and would be the highest paid graduate assistant on
campus.

   So, what wasn't to like about that offer?  As it turned out...  a lot.

   Dr.  Bergerud is a great guy, he really is.  He knows his music theory
forwards and backwards, has a mind made for history and is a very good
choir director, but he's absolutely horrible with grading papers.  So the
highest paid graduate assistant on campus spent most of the first semester
grading Intro To Music papers.  I don't mind grading papers, but Dr. 
Bergerud assigns a five-page paper each week.  But I slogged through as
best I could, even managing to find time to study for my own advanced
theory and literature classes.

   So my first semester back in school was a lot busier than I had
expected. It certainly wasn't horrible, but it wasn't all that fun either,
which is what probably led me back to Pablo's in the first place.  I needed
some way to relieve the stress in my life, and since most of my friends had
moved on after graduation, I felt alone.  So I became a regular at the
tavern.

   I had never been a huge drinker when I was working on my undergraduate
degree, probably because I was a poor college student and soda is
infinitely cheaper than alcohol, so I never really acquired a taste for it.
That all changed once I got out in the real world, and that frightened me a
little bit.  I spent enough of my Tuesday evenings sitting at a bar stool
at Pablo's to know that I didn't want to end up like the rest of the fat,
pathetic drunks who frequented the place.  But drinking alone in my
apartment seemed far worse, so there I was.

   Pablo's Tavern is a fairly nice dive, as far these kind of places go,
although it's definitely not one of the newer family-style bar and
restaurants.  And as far as I know, there is no Pablo.  Billy is the
regular bartender and at six and a half feet and as black as coal he'll
never be confused with Pablo, and all the waitresses are as white as I am,
but what do you expect in Omaha?

   So maybe with no Pablo, and in fact nothing even remotely Hispanic about
the place, there's somewhat of a truth in advertising issue, but it's no
big deal.  What's important is that Pablo's is a place a guy can go to
forget all his troubles.  As long as you've got a wallet and can manage to
stay mostly vertical in your chair, the bartender will be happy to keep
your glass full.

   And I've noticed that buying a couple of roses doesn't hurt either, and
that was a new thing since graduation.  It seems in the few months I was
away, Pablo's acquired a new set of working girls.  When I say "working
girls," I mean just that...  working girls.  Not hookers, but girls, mainly
college age, who walked around the bar selling roses to the bar's patrons.

   Don't ask me why the girls are there.  They just are.  The girls are
always dressed nicely, and generally you'll never see them drink while
they're on the "job." Pablo's is pretty big, so usually two or three girls
will be working at once, wandering through the drunk and lonely people,
selling long-stemmed roses.

   And that's all they do.  I had always wondered if they were selling the
flowers to raise money for a charity, or if this is just another way for
the bar to make money, but I've learned that's not the case.  The girls
sell roses to make a bit of extra cash, and if drunk guys feel guilty and
buy a couple for their wife or girlfriend at home, so much the better. 
It's all about money.

   Like I said though, after I realized that Billy and the rest of the
bartenders seemed a bit more relaxed and easy going once I'd bought a
couple flowers, I usually did just that.  Who knows, maybe the girls kick a
bit of money back to the bar for the privilege.  I never asked.

   For weeks during the beginning of the school year I had been seeing this
one particular girl and was just fascinated by her.  I never managed to
talk with her, but each Tuesday when I sat down for my drinks she caught my
eye.  We had our first contact in October, shortly after fall break.

   From a distance what had caught my eye was her hair.  I've always been a
sucker for a long cascade of hair running down a girl's back, and this
girl's mane of auburn hair seemed to be made for me.  All I could imagine
was running my fingers through it.  She was dressed like the rest of the
flower girls who worked the bar, but to my eyes she looked far better than
they could ever hope to look.

   On most of the girls, the short black skirts and tuxedo shirts with the
top three or four buttons undone looked foolish, like little girls playing
dress-up, but on her...  well, it was something else.  On her the clothes
looked nothing less than sexy and I had a quick flashback, remembering my
high school prom and how my date had looked as we relaxed after making love
on the couch in my living room.  My girlfriend at the time had dressed in
just my tuxedo shirt and the memory of her long legs peeking out from under
the tails of the shirt was one of my only good memories of our time
together.

   Like my high school sweetheart, this girl had long, wavy auburn hair
that fell in loose curls down to the small of her back, nearly to the upper
curve of her ass.  But where my old girlfriend had packed on a few extra
pounds, this girl was slim without being skinny, and for her small frame
had rather large breasts.

   I'm not a good judge of a woman's bra size, so I can't tell you what her
actual size was...  because I just can't tell.  But who knows...  she was a
tiny girl, far shorter than my six feet, so maybe her breasts just looked
big on her.

   But it was the hair that caught my attention.  At least from a distance.
Once I saw her up close, it was her face that grabbed me.  She had the
smoothest skin and the most kissable pair of pink lips I had ever seen, but
it was her eyes that really did it.  Here eyes were what did me in.

   I was sitting on my bar stool, nursing my second and final scotch of the
night when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I turned and almost lost myself in
the liquid emerald of her eyes.

   "Buy a rose, mister?" she asked and I glanced down to see the typical
basket of pink and red flowers cradled in her arms.

   "What the hell," I shrugged.  I hadn't bought any yet that night and
they were cheap.  Like I said, I'm pretty sure the bar had some sort of
deal set up with the girls so I was always willing to chip in a few bucks.
"Give me a couple of the red ones," I said.

   "Thanks!" she grinned.  The girl's face brightened visibly with my words
and I pulled a couple bills out of my wallet to finalize the purchase.  We
made our exchange and I found myself holding two red roses with no place to
put them.

   "Billy," I called down the bar.  "Can I get a glass of water for my
flowers?" Billy looked up from the other end of the bar and nodded.  He
brought me a tall plastic cup, half filled with water and I placed the
roses inside.  I returned to my drink, startled when moments later I felt
another tap on my shoulder.  I turned to see the flower girl standing
behind me once more.

   "Thanks," she said, nodding to the roses.  "I saw what you did with the
flowers.  It's kind of sad to see most of the roses die.  A lot of guys
just buy them because they think we'll bug them if they don't.  And they
usually just leave them on the bar, and they wither up and get thrown out."

   "They're very pretty," I said.

   "So, I just wanted to say thanks," the girl said, turning to go.

   I smiled as she left, waving as she returned to her rounds.  I drained
the last of my now diluted drink and stood to go, feeling a little guilty.
The girl had been right about people buying the flowers out of a sense of
duty, and I was normally one of those guys who left the roses on the bar
but tonight I decided to take mine home with me.  Careful not to spill the
water, I picked up my cup and walked to the door.

   The girl was selling to a table near the entrance and she waved as she
saw me leaving, smiling brightly as I held up my cup of flowers.  I pushed
my way into the cool of the November night, wishing I'd decided to go to
school somewhere a bit more tropical than Omaha.  Mindful of the fragile
flowers I held in my hand I hurried to my car, which sputtered to life with
a cough and a gasp and I drove the two miles back to my apartment.

   I groaned as I flicked on the lights, seeing the living room exactly as
I'd left it.  I kept hoping I would return one day and everything would
magically have straightened itself into something resembling order, but it
wasn't to be.  It was a mess...  dirty clothes on the couch, a pizza box on
the floor and sheets of music writing paper strewn haphazardly around the
room.

   I picked up the pizza box, grimacing as I remembered it was still there
from Saturday night.  If I wasn't careful I would soon have an ant problem
and I promised myself to spend some quality time cleaning up my mess in the
morning before my first class.

   I set the roses on my kitchen table, leaning over to smell their aroma.
I closed my eyes and to my surprise saw nothing but the face of the girl
from the bar.  I sighed, knowing that to her I was more than likely just
another bar patron, and probably not worth a second thought.  I stripped
out of my clothes and went to my bedroom to get ready for bed.

   Once in bed, the vision of the girl's perfect face floated through my
memory and I found myself becoming erect at the thought of her smooth skin
and supple young body.  I reached down to tug at my stiffening prick and
stroked myself to the fantasy of the girl and I rolling around on my living
room floor surrounded by millions of rose petals.

   My orgasm came with a rush and I felt my hand and chest suddenly coated
with my semen.  I reached over the side of the bed and grabbed a sock off
the floor to wipe the mess from my skin.  The image of the girl's face was
still with me as I drifted off to sleep, my last thought one of
disappointment as I realized I didn't even know her name.

   *****

   I rolled out of bed the next morning surprisingly refreshed, considering
the late evening I'd had the previous night.  Wednesday is always a rough
day for me.  Dr.  Bergerud has three morning classes and for some reason
wants to meet with me before he lectures, ostensibly to go over his notes
and overhead transparencies.  I've never understood why he feels the need,
since he usually just shows his teaching aids to me and I agree that
they're fine, but whatever, I guess.  Maybe he just wants the practice,
although you'd think that after thirty years of teaching he'd have it down
by now.

   "Morning," I said as I walked into his office.

   "Dan," he nodded from behind his desk.  I waited as he finished typing
something into his computer.  He finished after a moment and looked up at
me.  He appeared ready to say something when his head cocked to one side
and he stared at me for a few moments.  I stood there, unsure what he was
thinking when suddenly he shook his head and laughed as he stood up.

   "What?" I asked, curious as to his good mood, unusual for such an early
morning.

   "Nothing, nothing," he said, still laughing gently as he gathered his
books.  "Just glad to see that one of us is so happy." Without another word
he slipped past me into the hallway, whistling a John Phillip Sousa tune as
he walked down the hall.

   Me?  Happy?  I thought about it but couldn't think of any reason I was
any happier today than I'd been all week.  I figured the big guy was just
getting older, and that made me sad.  Dr.  Bergerud had been a staple at my
school for as long as I could remember, and I'd grown up in this town so
I'd known of him my whole life.  He was an institution around these parts -
in fact I think he may have been the first choir director at the school -
but the rumor mill had him retiring at the end of this school year,
although he hadn't said anything to me.

   I laughed, before realizing that the pile of ungraded essays was my
morning's work.  I thought about taking the stack of papers to my tiny
office, but decided against it and sat down at the professor's desk,
preparing for the mind-numbing procession of lofty ideas and poorly-worded
rationalizations from this semester's group of freshmen.

   I was half finished with the essays when Dr.  Bergerud returned from his
first class, obviously surprised to see me in his spot.

   "Sorry," I said, quickly rising from his chair.

   "No, stay where you are," he said, waving me back.

   "You sure?" I asked.

   "It's not a problem," he assured me.  "I'll just grab my coat and go for
a walk.  Maybe some young gal will catch my eye.  Then won't we be the
pair!" he laughed as he walked out of his office.  I could still hear his
chuckle as he strolled down the hall.

   I shook my head in puzzlement, trying to understand what he might be
talking about and went back to grading papers.

   The rest of the week was more of the same for me.  I graded papers when
I had time between my own classes and occasionally met with students from
the professor's classes when he was unavailable.  I was beginning to
realize that being Dr.  Bergerud's graduate assistant wasn't much more than
being a glorified teaching aide, but the money and opportunity to study for
my post-graduate degree more than made up for the lowly work required of
me.

   By the time the weekend rolled around I was more than ready to unwind.
Foregoing my usual weekend ritual of staying at home and studying I decided
to try and reconnect with old friends.  The football team was playing its
Homecoming game on Saturday and a few buddies of mine were going to be back
in town.

   Bobby Harmon, Pete Taylor and I had been a tight-knit trio the year
before, all three of us certified choir geeks, but had lost contact after
graduation.  I was the only one still close to campus since Bobby had moved
back to his hometown in Iowa to work in his father's law office, while Pete
had moved to Chicago after completing his engineering degree.  Both of them
were going to be back in Omaha this weekend, and I was really looking
forward to seeing them again.

   Saturday was spent on campus and to me it felt as if the three of us had
never been away from each other.  Bobby was as much the womanizer as he had
always been and spent most of the football game trying to pick up women
while Pete on the other hand was oblivious to anything but the game.  I
spent most of my time sitting between the two, trying to pick up fragments
of their lives as best I could.

   "So, you're working for a design firm?" I asked Pete during halftime.

   "Yeah," he answered.  "It's okay.  I mostly design ball bearings."

   "What?" I questioned.  "How do you do that?  Aren't they all round?"

   "Sure," he nodded.

   "So, what...  you design a sphere?  What's the big deal?" I asked.  Pete
laughed at my expression.

   "It's not so much that," he explained.  "It ends up being more about the
size and positioning, along with how much lubrication is used."

   "Oh God," Bobby interrupted as a girl I recognized from one of the
beginning music classes.  "I'd like to lubricate her up and slip her one of
my ball bearings."

   "What?" Pete laughed.

   "She's so fucking hot," Bobby continued.

   "You're such a cradle robber," I said.  "Her name is Allison Jenkins and
she's just a freshman this year.  Not even a freshman," I corrected myself.
"She's actually a high school senior taking some college courses a year
early."

   "Who fucking cares?" Bobby shrugged, still eyeing Allison.  As she
walked away from us a gust of wind billowed up her skirt in the back,
revealing the smooth globes of her tanned ass covered by nothing more than
the thin string of a red thong panty.  "She looks old enough to me. 
Besides, you know what I always say...  if there's grass on the playing
field it's okay to play there."

   "Such a pervert," Pete laughed, but he too was beginning to become aware
of the college girls surrounding us in the stands and trailed off as a
quartet of girls sat down directly in front of us.

   "How's it going, ladies?" Bobby asked, leaning forward.  "What's a nice
group of girls like you doing in a place like this?"

   One of the girls giggled, looking at her three friends before turning
back to Bobby who wasn't hiding the fact he was looking down their shirts,
trying to get a glimpse of their breasts.

   "Is this a bad place?" she asked in a small voice.  "Do...  do bad men
hang out here?"

   "Only the worst kind," Bobby replied, unaware he was being set up as the
girl pretended to be scared.

   "Oh my," she said.  She looked at Bobby for a moment, her eyes dropping
to look at the bulge in his pants.  "We better find some big strong men to
protect us.  Isn't that right?" she asked Bobby, batting her eyelashes as
she flirted with him.

   "I think that would be a good idea," he said.  "Because who knows what
might happen to you girls, right?  Some bad men might try to make you do
bad things with them, and you might need protection."

   "Right," she agreed.  "And I know just the guys to protect us."

   "Oh yeah?" Bobby asked, dropping his hand and brushing it over his
erection.  The girl giggled and nodded.

   "Yep.  They're right over there," she pointed.

   Suddenly the girls jumped up, laughing at the shocked expression on
Bobby's face as they ran away to another group of guys, standing at the
railing separating the field from the stands.  The girl Bobby had been
talking to slipped her arm around one of the bigger guys and whispered into
his ear.  He turned our way, glaring as the girl pointed out Bobby.  He
seemed ready to head our way but the girl held him back and the three of us
groaned in unison as the guy leaned down to kiss who we now assumed was his
girlfriend, their tongues dueling furiously as his hands slid down her
back, fondling her ass cheeks through her blue jeans.

   "Bitch," Bobby spat out, watching as the girl blew him a kiss as she
walked away, down towards the field.

   "Smooth, Bobby.  Real smooth," I joked.  "You can sure pick them, can't
you?  The jailbait and the girl dating the football star.  Way to go."

   "He's a football player?" Bobby asked.

   "Yeah, he's the starting quarterback."

   "Why isn't he in the game?" Pete asked.

   "He strained a couple ligaments in his knee the last game, and is
probably out for the season."

   "That sucks.  We could sure use him today," Pete moaned.  He was right;
we were getting beat 24-10 and after discussing it the three of us decided
to head out early.  We stuck around through the third quarter but left
before the final period but when it didn't appear there was any chance of a
comeback.

   "Where to now?" Bobby asked as we exited the stadium.  "What passes for
fun around here?"

   "I don't know," I shrugged.  "I normally study on the weekends."

   "Ooh...  a big party animal like always!" Bobby laughed.  "Why don't we
head over to Pablo's?" he asked.

   "I suppose we could," I said and the three of us quickly got in Bobby's
car and drove to our favorite watering hole.

   *****

   Pablo's on a Saturday night was a much different place from what I was
used to during the week.  The three of us had a difficult time finding a
place to sit and ended up at the bar until a booth opened up in the back.
Pete and I waited at the counter for our drinks while Bobby claimed our
seats.  Not surprisingly, by the time Pete and I arrived with the drinks
Bobby had already managed to convince one of the flower girls to sit down
with him.

   "This is Michelle," he told us as we set the pitcher of beer on the
table.  "Isn't she just the cutest?"

   I recognized Michelle as one of the girls who sold roses, although I had
only seen her around a couple times.  Of all the girls working the bar, she
seemed the most likely to drag a guy to the bathroom for a little
extracurricular activity.  In fact I had heard rumors that some of the
girls supplemented their income in exactly that way, although I'd never
experienced it firsthand.

   "I've seen you around here before," Michelle said, leaning back again
Bobby, who already had his hand around her shoulder.  As the four of us
drank our beers, Michelle sipping from Bobby's offered glass, I watched as
Bobby's hand slowly slipped off Michelle's shoulder until he was cupping
her breast through her tuxedo shirt.  Like all the girls who sold roses,
Michelle was wearing a man's tuxedo shirt and a short black skirt, although
Michelle's skirt seemed shorter than most and her shirt appeared to have
lost a few buttons somewhere along the line.

   Bobby was taking advantage of Michelle's clothing situation by
alternately looking down the opening in the front of her shirt to ogle her
cleavage and reaching in to squeeze her soft tits.  Michelle appeared to be
very welcoming to his advances and judging by the motion of her right arm
below the table, she was busy feeling up his cock.  Pete and I were trying
to ignore the indiscreet couple as we talked about the game and what we'd
been doing with our lives until suddenly Bobby and Michelle got up from the
table.

   After a whispered conversation, Michelle stood first, straightening her
clothing as she rose.  Her face was flush and the points of her nipples
poking through the tuxedo shirt were obvious to anyone who looked.  The
bulge in Bobby's pants was no less obvious as Michelle took Bobby by the
hand and dragged him down the hallway to where the restrooms were.

   "Do you think?" Pete asked, his eyebrows raised in question.

   "Probably," I shrugged.  "I hear that kind of stuff happens quite a
bit."

   "Lucky bastard," Pete grinned.  We had been drinking for a while and
although I was taking it slow, the original pitcher had been replaced twice
already and Bobby and Pete seemed ready to take on a fourth.

   "You mean because of Michelle?" I asked.  Pete nodded, but I wasn't so
sure.  "I don't know...  who knows where she's been?"

   "That's a fucking excellent point," Pete agreed, his voice slurred as he
raised his glass to me in salute.  His voice trailed off and I caught him
glancing over my shoulder.  "Holy shit." he mumbled, quickly draining the
rest of his beer.

   Puzzled, I turned and saw the girl from the previous Tuesday, bent over
a table a few feet away.  I was considering inviting her over to meet Pete
when he took care of that.

   "Hey, over here.  I wanna buy a flower," blurted Pete, waving his hand
to get her attention.  The girl turned and I saw a quick look of disgust
flash across her face as she took in my drunken friend.  Her look quickly
passed as she saw me sitting there and her features rearranged into
something close to a welcome smile as she made her way to our booth.

   "Hey, there," she said as she stood next to me.  "How's it going?"

   "It's going great, pretty lady," said Pete loudly.  "How about them
flowers?  I wanna buy a flower from you."

   The girl smiled and started reaching into her basket of flowers, but was
interrupted by Pete.

   "Why don't you sit down beside me?" he asked, sliding away from the
edge. "I've been keeping a spot warm for you, honey."

   "Oh, I don't think so," said the girl mildly.

   "But I want to kiss you," said Pete, reaching out to grab the girl's arm
as he attempted to pull her closer.

   "No," the girl protested, shaking off his weak grip.  "Did you want to
buy a flower or not?"

   "I wanna buy a blowjob," he blurted, grabbing her arm again.  "How much
to buy a blowjob?"

   "Quiet, Pete." I shook my head, but my inebriated friend was too far
gone to pay any attention at this point.

   "I don't do that," the girl hissed, finally breaking free.

   "But my friend just bought a blowjob," Pete protested.

   The girl shook her head and turned to leave and to my surprise I felt a
rush of sadness as she turned to go.  The girl gave me a look that I took
as her being personally disappointed in me and quickly walked away.

   "She was pretty," Pete said sadly as he watched the girl's hasty
retreat. He quickly forgot about her and went back to his drinking while I
was left to sit there and brood.  I didn't know the girl, but I still felt
bad for the way Pete had acted and at the moment wanted nothing more than
to leave.

   It was only a moment or two before Bobby and Michelle returned to the
booth, both wearing satisfied expressions on their faces.  As Bobby sat he
stretched his arms out wide over his head and sighed happily.

   "God, I love this place," he laughed, staring at Michelle.  "The service
was wonderful."

   "It was my pleasure to service you," she grinned.  I shook my head as I
noticed Michelle wiping a telltale stain from her skirt, rolling my eyes as
I wondered at the risks my friends were taking.

   "Yeah, well some people have better luck than others," groused Pete. 
"That bitch wouldn't even give me the time of day," he grumbled, pointing
out the girl he had nearly molested.

   "Who?" Michelle asked, turning to see where Pete was pointing.  "Oh,
her?" she laughed.  "She's a frigid bitch, that's for sure." When I heard
the others laughing at the girl I suddenly realized I had a small crush on,
I decided I'd rather be anywhere else but at the bar.

   "Well," I said as I stood abruptly.  "I think I'm going to take off."
Bobby and Pete stared at me in surprise, looking at my mostly untouched
drink.  "I'll walk home," I explained, throwing a few bills down on the
table.  "You guys should get a cab, I think."

   I ignored their protests as I walked away from the booth.  On my way out
I saw the flower girl.  I wanted to go apologize but she seemed busy.  On
my way past the bar I stopped and talked with Billy, throwing a couple
bills his way.

   "See that girl over there selling flowers?" I asked.  "I'm not sure of
her name, but the brunette over by the table over there?  This is for her.
I wanted to buy a couple roses but she's busy and I have to leave." Billy
nodded and scooped up my money, promising he would make sure she got it. 
"And would you tell her I'm sorry?" I asked.

   "What for?"

   "Just...  just tell her I'm sorry.  She'll know." Billy nodded again and
with nothing more to do or say I left.

   I walked back to my apartment and fell down into my bed.  My imagination
ran wild as I lay there, and I was surprised that the alcohol seemed to be
having more of an effect on me now than it had in the bar.

   As I lay there my hand once again strayed to my erect prick.  I stroked
myself lightly through my pants as my mind began to wander.  In my daydream
I imagined myself talking to my mystery girl, apologizing to her for how my
friend had behaved, but her answer surprised me.

   "He didn't bother me," she laughed.

   "Oh?" I asked.  In my fantasy I realized I was naked in front of the
still clothed flower girl, but she seemed to not notice my erection poking
out from my groin.  "You seemed upset.  What was the problem then?" I asked
as I stroked my erection.

   "I didn't want to suck his cock," she said, dropping to her knees and
pushing my hand away from my prick.

   "Why not?" I asked.

   "I wanted to suck your cock," she giggled.  I watched in amazement as
her pink lips spread apart and with little effort seemed to swallow me
whole.  In real life my cock is about average but in my dream my prick
would have put a porn star to shame, although she seemed to have no trouble
with it.

   "Suck it," I moaned as I felt her tongue slide over my shaft.  Her lips
formed a seal around my cock as she sucked me into the wetness of her
mouth. The girl's pink tongue played over my shaft, teasing the veins along
the bottom of my prick.  I felt the head of my cock bump against the back
of her throat and to my surprise she relaxed her muscles and my cock
slipped further in.

   "I love your cock," she said dreamily as she pulled her lips away from
my shaft.  Her tongue snaked out of her mouth as she bathed the plump,
purplish head of my cock with her saliva.  "It's so big," she said before
amazing me as once again she deep throated my enormous cock in one smooth
motion.

   In my dream, the blowjob continued for what seemed like hours before I
pulled away from the girl's sucking mouth and sprayed an enormous load of
sperm all over her face and neck.  She appeared hungry for my cum and
carefully licked off each sticky deposit from her fingers before reaching
out to grip my still erect penis.

   "Again?" she asked, licking the last traces of my sperm from her pouty
pink lips.

   "Again," I agreed.

   The nameless girl once again opened her mouth to swallow my cock but at
that moment I woke from my daydream and realized I was back in my bedroom
lying on my bed, still fully clothed.  I groaned as I sat up, seeing the
large wet spot forming on the front of my jeans.  I had cum in my pants!  I
changed quickly before once again collapsing back to my bed although sleep
was slow in coming to me as my thoughts were once again preoccupied with
the beautiful girl from the bar.

   Part Two

   After the fiasco with my friends at the bar, the rest of homecoming
weekend went by fairly quickly.  Before I knew it Tuesday had rolled around
again and I found myself making my now weekly trek to Pablo's.  Happily I
was alone as I entered the dimly lit bar.  I scanned my eyes from the back
of the room to the front hoping to see my crush, but didn't see her
anywhere.

   Sighing, I made my way to what I realized I was thinking of as "my" bar
stool and sat down, ordering a double scotch on the rocks.  Billy, who
seemed to always be working on the nights I came in, nodded and before long
I was getting ready to toss back my first swallow of the sharp amber
liquid.

   "Hey," I heard a tiny voice say from beside me and I turned, my breath
catching as I saw it was the girl.  Immediately my tongue tied itself in
knots as I tried to think of something suave and debonaire.

   "Hi," I stammered, nearly knocking over my drink in my attempt to wave.
The girl just smiled at my clumsiness.  "How are you?"

   "Good," she said.  "Can I sit with you for a minute?"

   "Sure," I answered as smoothly as possible.  I stood, nearly knocking
the bar stool to the floor as I tried to play the part of true gentleman. I
grimaced, quickly moving behind the girl to pull a stool away from the bar
for her.  I sat quickly and carefully to avoid any further embarrassment.

   "Thanks," she said.  I realized the stool I had pulled out was in use,
and quickly picked my coat up off the seat next to me, holding it in my lap
as I watched the girl sit demurely on the high bar stool next to me.  Her
tan legs peeked out from under the short pleated skirt as she sat there.  I
caught myself staring and shook my head, quickly jerking my head up to meet
her gaze, only to realize she had been watching me the whole time.

   "Sorry," I said lamely, feeling myself blush at being caught looking.

   "Don't worry about it," she laughed.  "And relax, okay?  Getting people
to look is the whole idea of the uniform." She bent at the waist and I
suddenly found myself with the delicious view of her breasts as they swayed
enticingly, clearly unfettered by any hint of a bra or other restraint.  I
could see all the way down her shirt, which was opened to the fourth button
and nearly all of her creamy flesh was visible, all the way to her barely
covered nipples.

   I gulped loudly, trying to will my erection down, suddenly glad my coat
was in my lap.

   "See?" she giggled, seeing the expression on my face.  "Doesn't that
make you want to buy my flowers?"

   "Among other things," I said before I could catch myself.

   "I don't want to talk about that," she answered, her face darkening and
I realized she was thinking of the other night.

   "Shit," I swore.  "Let's start over, okay?" I extended my hand in
greeting, happy when she returned my handshake after a moment's thought. 
"I'm Daniel.  Daniel Parker.  I'm a grad student down at Emerson College
and I think I need to apologize for my friend acting like an ass last
weekend."

   "Apology accepted and it wasn't your fault," she answered.  "My name is
Heather, by the way.  Heather Morris.  I'm just a working girl, trying to
make a living," she sighed.

   "Pushing your petals?" I laughed.

   "It's not like that," she sighed darkly, to my confusion.  What had I
said?

   "What?" I asked.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything."

   "Oh.  It's just...  a lot of the girls here do some other selling on the
side.  They call it pushing the petals."

   Oh.  Oh!

   "Shit," I said again.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it like that."

   Heather looked at me intently for a moment, as if judging my sincerity.

   "I know you didn't," she finally said, nodding her head.  "You're one of
the nice guys and I still need to thank you for buying those flowers the
other night.  It was unnecessary, but still...  thanks," she said, reaching
for her basket.

   "Don't worry about it," I said.  "Consider them a gift." I laughed
shortly.  "They kind of pale beside your beauty anyway."

   Heather groaned and I wondered again if I'd said something
inappropriate.

   "Don't worry about it," she said.  "It's just...  for a minute it
sounded like one of the dozens of bad pick-up lines we get."

   "Really?  Like what."

   "Oh God, we hear them all...  You're the prettiest flower here...  The
girl I want to give a flower to is already holding them...  that kind of
crap.  I just get sick of it and I'm constantly wondering if I'm going to
lose my job."

   "Why?  Why would you lose it?"

   "Because of people like Michelle."

   "Oh, yeah.  She seemed...  a little forward, I guess."

   "Humph," grunted Heather.  "That's an understatement.  If anyone ever
catches wind of her little escapades, the whole group of us flower girls
will get kicked out of here for sure."

   "That kind of sucks," I said.

   "Yeah...  she does, and that's the problem."

   I looked at Heather, trying to see if she was being serious or trying
make a joke, relieved when she finally burst out laughing.

   "Sorry," she giggled.

   "You got me," I confessed.  "Take me away, I think it's time for me to
go."

   Heather laughed with me, pretending to throw a pair of handcuffs around
my wrists, but to my dismay she got up to leave, once again giving me a
long look down her shirt as she stood.

   "Are you sure you don't want...  those flowers you bought?" she asked.

   "Nah, consider the money a donation to a good cause," I said, waving my
hand dismissively.

   "Thanks," Heather said brightly.  She paused for a moment, reaching into
her basket to retrieve a card.  "I'm going to give you this," she
practically shouted, and I wondered if she was speaking loudly for my
benefit or someone else's.  Maybe trying to convince whoever might be her
boss that giving me her card was on the up and up, and not some attempt to
push her petals, as she had put it.  "It's good for two free flowers should
you ever change your mind."

   "That's really okay," I said, but she insisted, pushing the card into my
hand.

   "Take it," she said.  "Just in case."

   "Alright," I said.  "Thanks."

   "You're welcome," she said.  Heather picked up her basket and started
looking over the other bar patrons.  "Sorry," she apologized.  "I've got to
work.  If my regular customers don't see me, they'll start buying from
another girl."

   "I understand," I said.  "It was good to meet you, and it was fun
talking to you."

   "Me too," Heather nodded.  "Don't lose the card," she reminded me.

   "I won't," I replied.  I watched her ass sway underneath her short skirt
as she walked away, feeling my prick once more swell with arousal.  I kept
my eyes on Heather's retreating form until she turned the corner and walked
out of my view.  I decided that one drink was enough for the evening and
stood to go, palming her card as I put on my coat.

   Wondering what she could have written I turned it over.  Her writing was
curvy and hard to read in the dim bar light, but when I finally made out
her words my heart skipped a beat.

   "Call me," she had written, and underneath her short message had
included her phone number.

   Lose the card?  There was no way that would happen.  I slipped the card
into my wallet and practically skipped home, feeling as high as a kite over
my good fortune.

   *****

   Of course all my good feelings and happiness evaporated in a second the
next morning when I walked into the music offices.  Dr.  Bergerud's normal
secretary was a nice middle-aged woman named Estelle, but she had been
replaced - or so it seemed - by a severe woman named Ms.  Janet Parker.

   "Where's Estelle?" I asked when the professor called me into his office.
The new secretary, although my office was only one door down, had
scrutinized me for what seemed an inordinately long period of time before
allowing me into the professor's office, where Dr.  Bergerud sat slumped
behind his desk.

   "She's taking a few weeks off," the professor sighed and I noticed he
looked haggard, far more tired than he normally did.

   "What happened?"

   "Seems she slipped and fell in her kitchen last night and...  no, she
didn't break her hip," he interrupted, seeing my look of concern.  "But
she's in a lot of pain."

   "You seem kind of blue," I ventured, thinking I knew the reason why.

   "Oh God.  Don't get me started.  The Nazi in the next room has been
reorganizing since she got here.  I'm afraid to go out of my office."

   "Come on," I laughed.  "She can't be that bad!"

   "You want to bet?" he countered.  "That woman scares me."

   I shook my head as I left his office, nodding to the new secretary as I
passed.  I was almost to the door of my own office when I heard the woman's
voice call after me.

   "Mr.  Parker," she said, her voice overly loud in the quiet of the early
Wednesday morning.  "You'll see a few projects I put on your desk.  I think
they'll help you out of the mess you seem to be in.  Have them back to me
by noon."

   Mess?  What kind of a mess was I in?  I groaned when I saw the pile of
papers on my desk.  Apparently Dr.  Bergerud hadn't been kidding.  The new
secretary was demanding progress reports and updated student information on
the entire student file Estelle had kept.

   "Are you serious about this?" I asked as I walked back to the reception
area.  "A lot of these students don't go here anymore.  Estelle just kept
them on file for some reason."

   "Then they should be thrown out," she sniffed.  "And you should refer to
her as Mrs.  Larson.  I believe you owe her that courtesy."

   "I'm sorry Janet.  She always asked us to call her Estelle.  And you can
call me Dan."

   "I would prefer to call you Mr.  Parker, if you don't mind.  And you
will definitely refer to me as Ms.  Parker.  Not Mrs.  or Miss," she
sniffed.

   "Sorry," I said, raising my hands in surrender as I backed out of her
area.  "I'll get right on that paperwork."

   I shook my head as I walked past Dr.  Bergerud's office, wondering how
long Estelle...  Mrs.  Larson would be gone.  I could here the professor
laughing at me as I passed.

   "I told you," I heard him whisper as he gently shut the door.  "She's a
Nazi."

   As the day progressed I had never been so glad for classes to roll
around.  I generally didn't sit in on a lot of the professor's classes,
choosing instead to catch up on the paper correcting assignments I had been
given or to work on my own projects.  This particular day was different,
and simply escaping the glaring face of the new secretary was reward
enough, even if it meant subjecting myself to asinine questions from the
freshmen.

   "What do you say we get a drink?" Dr.  Bergerud asked at the end of the
day.  He slapped me on the back as I let out an overly dramatic sigh of
weariness.  "I think we've both earned it," he laughed.

   "Jesus!  You weren't kidding about the new lady.  How long before
Estelle is back?"

   "I called her this afternoon.  I begged and pleaded.  I promised that if
she hurried back we would both wait on her, hand and foot."

   "Damn right," I muttered.  "She wouldn't even need to do any work, just
as long as Ms.  Parker is gone."

   "That's what I said," Dr.  Bergerud laughed.

   "Well?" I asked.  "When is she coming back?"

   "Two more days," he replied.

   "Well...  that's not too bad."

   "Yeah, but you're not in tomorrow."

   "Lucky me," I grinned.

   "So what about that drink?" he repeated.  I didn't normally go out
except on Tuesdays, but tonight seemed to be a good exception.

   "I'll buy you that drink if you drive," I offered.

   "You're on.  Where do you want to go?"

   "How about Pablo's?" I asked casually.

   "Ugh...  is that the rat hole place you students normally hang out?"

   "Yeah, but they make a great Long Island iced tea," I said, knowing it
was his favorite drink.  It only took a few seconds for him to come to his
decision.

   "I suppose we could go after all," he agreed.  "I'm sure the place isn't
all that bad."

   "It's not," I laughed, thinking of Heather and the rest of the flower
girls.  "I'm sure you'll enjoy the scenery."

   "What do you mean?" he asked.

   "Just wait," I said.  "You'll see."

   The two of us walked down the hall towards the parking lot.

   After the short drive to Pablo's, I couldn't help myself and scanned the
bar as we were seated, searching for Heather's mane of auburn hair.  I
didn't even know if she worked on Wednesdays, since the only days I'd been
there since we first met was my usual Tuesday and the one weekend with my
friends.

   "Looking for someone?" Dr.  Bergerud asked after our waitress brought
our drinks to the table we were sitting at.  He took a sip of his drink
before turning, craning his neck to see where I was looking.

   "Nah," I shrugged.  "Well, I mean I am, but it's no big deal."

   "Oh," he smiled, taking another sip.  "So...  who is she?"

   "What?"

   "Who's the girl?"

   "I...  I don't know what...  how did you know?" I asked.

   "It's pretty obvious," he laughed.  "You should really see yourself when
you don't think anyone is watching you."

   "What do you mean?"

   "Oh, your face lights up and you get...  you get this look in your eye
as if you're thinking about diving into a swimming pool full of naked
women."

   "Professor!" I laughed.  I had known Dr.  Bergerud for my entire college
career, but had never heard him talk so freely.

   "What?" he asked.  "Can't a guy have a fantasy?"

   I sputtered for a moment, unsure of what to say.

   "It's just...  I've never seen you like this," I finally managed.

   "Oh...  I think there's a lot about me you've never seen," he said.

   "What do you mean?"

   "Nothing.  Forget I said anything," he reflected my question.  "But
seriously, who's the girl?"

   "Her name's Heather," I said.

   "Does she work here or something?  Or does she just drink a lot?"

   "She works here.  But I've only really seen her here on Tuesday nights,"
I said.  Dr.  Bergerud nodded.  He knew about the one night a week I gave
myself to unwind.  "And I've never seen her drink at work."

   "Is she cute?" he grinned.

   "Oh man...  the cutest."

   "How long have you two been going out?" he asked, looking around for our
waitress.  I was surprised to see his glass was already empty.  He flagged
down our server as I continued.

   "We're not.  Not really."

   "You're not even dating and you're mooning over her like this?" he
laughed.  "This girl has you whipped."

   "Does not," I answered.  "We're...  I'm going to give her a call later.
She gave me her number last night and I was kind of hoping to see her."

   The professor nodded sagely as I told of how we had met.  I paused as
our waitress returned with another drink for the professor.

   "Do you know if Heather is working tonight?" I asked.

   "I don't know any Heather," the girl answered, shrugging her shoulders.

   "Oh.  She doesn't really work for the bar.  I mean, she's not a
waitress," I explained, as she appeared ready to turn and leave.  "She's
one of the girls who sells flowers.  I've seen her around on Tuesday
nights, but I don't see her right now."

   "I don't know," the girl said.

   "Can you find out?" I asked.  The girl sighed but nodded.

   "I suppose," she said, shaking her head as she walked away.

   It wasn't but a few minutes before I felt a pair of breasts press up
against the back of my head.

   "Anything I can help you with, honey?" a sultry voice whispered in my
ear and I saw Dr.  Bergerud's eyes widen as he caught a glimpse of whoever
was behind me.

   "I don't think so," I started to say, but was cut off as I turned my
head and found my face pressed between the twin mounds of this unknown
woman's cleavage.

   "You just stay right there, and Michelle will give you anything you
want," the voice continued.  I pulled away quickly, blushing as she laughed
at me.

   "Hi," I finally managed, the image of Michelle on her knees giving a
blowjob to my friend crystal clear in my mind.  "What do you want?"

   "I heard you were looking for Heather, and thought maybe you wanted a
real woman."

   "No, I'm looking for Heather," I said as both Dr.  Bergerud and Michelle
started laughing at me.  "What?"

   "You're cute," Michelle said.  I looked at the professor, expecting him
to be mildly outraged, but to my surprise his embarrassment appeared not to
mirror my own.  Instead a thoughtful look flashed over his features as if
he was going over something in his head.

   "What are you selling?" he suddenly asked.

   "Roses," Michelle answered.  I was suddenly forgotten as she walked
around the corner of the table, presenting her basket of flowers to Dr. 
Bergerud.

   "They're nice," he said.  "What else are you selling?" he asked, rather
more loudly than I thought was necessary.

   Michelle noticed immediately too.  She bent over and began to whisper in
his ear, softly enough so that I was unable to hear her words.  As she bent
at the waist to speak into his ear her skirt rode up her thighs, higher and
higher until the very bottoms of her panties peeked out from under the
skirt's hem.

   "Is that what you were looking to buy?" she asked, and I could only
imagine the view Dr.  Bergerud had down Michelle's loose shirt.

   "What I could really use right now is a sloppy wet blowjob, but your
prices are kind of high," Dr.  Bergerud said, his voice easily audible in
the suddenly quiet bar.  I saw an older couple two tables over turn at the
sound of his voice, shocked expressions on their faces.  Michelle jumped
back as if she had been slapped.

   "What?" she stammered, looking around nervously as she realized she was
being watched.  Her hands went to her skirt as she pushed it down under the
guise of smoothing the bunched material.

   "I want you to suck my dick," he repeated loudly, grinning as the
previously confident girl looked around in confusion.

   "Shut up," she hissed before standing up straight.  "I don't do that
sort of thing," she huffed loudly, now playing to the crowd.  Grabbing her
basket of flowers the thoroughly cowed Michelle stalked away, shooting
daggers back at us as she moved to a table at the far end of the bar.

   "Need a refill?" Dr.  Bergerud asked me calmly and I stared at him as he
sat there sipping his drink, seemingly nonplussed by the entire situation.

   "I'm good," I said.  "What was that all about?"

   "I was just trying to get rid of the little tramp," Dr.  Bergerud
chuckled.  "Seems like it worked, don't you think?"

   "But...  what did she say to you?"

   "Oh, she just mentioned as to how if I happened to wander into the
bathroom there was a possibility she might be willing to perform some... 
favors for me.  For a price."

   "And?"

   "As pretty as she was, I thought her asking price was a bit too steep."

   "Wow.  Well...  thanks.  I know Heather has a problem with Michelle. 
She's mentioned being worried about all the flower girls losing their jobs
if anyone finds out about those...  extracurricular activities."

   "It was no problem," he laughed.  "Now why don't you tell me about
Heather."

   "There's not really that much to say, really," I shrugged.  "I saw her
for the first time here in the bar."

   "When?"

   "I don't know, a week or so?"

   "And...?"

   "And I think I'm smitten!" I answered truthfully, frowning when my
professor burst into laughter.  "What?" I asked, applying the appropriately
hurt expression to my face.  "What's so funny?"

   "You're smitten?" he mocked.  "Smitten?  Who says smitten anymore?"

   "I did," I huffed.  "Why?"

   "Nothing.  Just sounded a bit old-fashioned to this old man."

   "Yeah, well...  be that as it may, I'm smitten."

   "Wonderful," he grinned "I'm glad you're smitten.  Now tell me about the
girl."

   "Heather," I corrected.

   "Fine, tell me about Heather."

   "What's to say?" I asked.  "I bought a couple flowers from her a couple
Tuesdays ago, and I thought there was a spark of something.  I know I liked
her, and it seemed like she thought I was okay too."

   "But she's a saleswoman," the professor pointed out, raising his eyebrow
skeptically.

   "Well, yeah, of course she is," I countered.  "But.  But over homecoming
I came in with Bobby and Pete, and..."

   "They're still in town?" the professor asked.

   "No, they came back for the game.  Anyway, we came in and Bobby kind of
caused a little scene with one of the girls."

   "The one from tonight?" he asked.

   "Yeah," I admitted.  "He...  well, he didn't think her prices were too
high."

   "Ah.." the professor nodded.  "I understand."

   "But anyway!" I said, beginning to get exasperated, wondering if I would
ever get the story told.  "That's not the worst part.  He can do what he
wants, but then Pete got a little too frisky and Heather got pissed.  It
was kind of ugly, so I left.  I went in last night and there she was, and I
did the typical guy thing and apologized for my friends.  She seemed pretty
gracious about it after she decided I wasn't just trying to get her into
bed."

   "Are you?"

   "No!  I mean...  not right now," I grinned.  "I didn't even know her
name until last night, I thought it was pretty cool," I said, reaching into
my slacks and pulling out her card, "when she gave me this." I held it up
triumphantly, just out of his reach.

   "What is it?" the professor asked.  "Looks like a business card."

   "It is a business card," I said.  "And it entitles me to two free
flowers." I explained what had gone on as far as my apology from the
weekend.  "But better yet is this," I said, flipping the card over.

   "What's that?"

   "Her phone number," I crowed.  "She gave me her number.  In fact, she
was adamant that I take it.  And that I be careful not to lose it.  So I'm
careful," I said, putting it back in my pocket.  "I keep it with the rest
of my valuables, other stuff I wouldn't want to lose."

   "By the family jewels?" the professor laughed while I tried to look
horrified.  I'd never heard him talk like this, but I suppose we hadn't
gone out drinking too often during my undergrad days.

   "I was thinking more along the lines of my car keys and wallet," I
huffed.

   "Fair enough," he laughed, tilting his head back to drain the last of
his drink.  "I should be heading out," he said.  "My nerves are soothed
enough, so I think I'm over the force of nature that is Janet."

   "You mean Ms.  Parker, I believe?" I asked, tightening my voice to
approximate the woman's thin, shrill voice.

   "Oh God, don't do that," Dr.  Bergerud admonished me as he put on his
coat and readied himself to leave.

   "Sorry."

   "Yeah, sure you are.  You don't have to put up with her tomorrow."

   "Don't worry though, I'll be thinking of you as I lounge around my
apartment."

   "Sure you will," he laughed.  He reached the door but turned back just
before he left the bar.  "You're going to call this girl, right?" he asked.

   "Of course I am," I said.  "I have it all planned out."

   "What, something like dinner and a movie?" he scoffed.

   "Of course not," I huffed.  Of course, dinner and a movie was exactly
what I'd been thinking, but still...  it wouldn't do to let him do that,
now would it?  "Something much more elaborate than that," I said.

   "Good," he nodded.  "See you on Thursday."

   "Have a good night," I waved, watching as he pushed the door out into
the chilly evening air.  I turned back to my drink, trying to figure out
what Heather and I could do.  I thought about it, but nothing seemed to
come.  Finally, after another drink I gave up and headed home myself.

   I figured it would be okay to do what a large percentage of all males -
and all great jazz musicians - have done for years.

   I would just improvise.

   Part Three

   "So do you think you can get a night off?" I asked nervously.  After
talking with Dr.  Bergerud I had waited another couple days before calling
Heather.  It was Friday night and I had hoped the two of us could go out.
It was a spur of the moment thing but I was still disappointed to learn
that she was working on a Friday night.

   "I can't," she answered.  "I don't make much at the bar, but it's the
only spending money I have."

   Heather had mentioned she was taking day classes at one of the local
community colleges.  I was surprised to find out she was still in school,
but she explained that she had worked as a secretary for two years after
high school and was just recently getting back into school.  She was on
scholarship, so her tuition and room and board were taken care of, but she
had little time or energy to get a part-time job.

   "Selling flowers two or three nights a week is about the best I can do,"
she explained.  "Most places looking for waitresses want more hours than I
can give them, and so this is it.  I'm sorry...  you know I'd love to go
out with you, but I really can't take the time off tonight."

   "That's okay," I said, trying not to sigh audibly into the phone.  "What
nights are you free?" I asked.

   "Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights are the only nights I
don't work, and sometimes when it gets busy I'll add a night if I get
caught up on my studying.  Like next week I'm working Monday instead of
Friday, but that's just a one-time thing."

   "Oh," I replied.  Sunday nights were generally bad for me because that's
when I did a lot of prep work for my own classes, and Monday wasn't any
better.  Wednesday was a possibility although I had hoped to see Heather
before then.  Once I had decided to make the call and ask her out the extra
waiting was going to drive me crazy.

   "Sorry," she said and I have to admit it was a little pleasing to hear
the disappointment in her voice.  It sounded as if she really was upset
that we couldn't go out right away.  Maybe this girl really liked me!

   "That's okay." I looked at the clock on my kitchen wall.  It was just
after four o'clock in the afternoon.  I had just gotten home from grading
more papers and I knew Heather needed to be getting to the bar fairly
quickly.  "I should let you go, so you're not late for work."

   "I guess," she said glumly.  "Thanks for calling though.  So are we on
for next week?"

   "I can't," I explained.  "I'm singing in the graduate student chorus and
we have a performance next week before Christmas break and I'm pretty
booked every night with rehearsals."

   "Okay," she sighed.  "Why don't you call me after break then?"

   "I will definitely do that," I said.  I was feeling a bit more relaxed
about things, happy that this didn't seem to be a case of the first option
not working out so the whole relationship fell apart.  "I will definitely
give you a call."

   "Cool," she said happily.  "I do have to go though.  Call me later?"

   "Definitely.  Have a good night at work," I said.

   "Yeah...  whatever...  as if I enjoy it there!  Oh well, that's just my
luck, I guess.  Talk to you later." Heather hung up the phone softly and I
went back to the living room and plopped down onto the couch, planning on
wasting another evening watching cable television.  I noticed "American
Beauty" was on one of the movie channels, which immediately let me to the
scene of one of the actresses lying on bed surrounded by rose petals.  My
thoughts then flashed to the image of Heather lying naked on the bed and a
plan started to form in my mind.

   Rising from the couch I walked back to the kitchen and grabbed the
phone. Pablo's has excellent chicken wings and I sometimes call for
take-out so the phone number was stuck to my fridge.  I dialed the bar,
happy that as always, Billy answered the call.

   "Hey Billy," I said.  "This is Daniel Parker.  One of the girls who
sells flowers there...  Heather Morris is her name.  She works tonight and
I was wondering if it was possible to buy out her basket."

   "What?" he asked.

   "Well, what happens if she sells her entire bunch of flowers?  Does she
get more or is she done for the night?"

   "The girls usually take off if that happens, but they generally try to
go through at least three or four dozen roses, so we're talking close to a
hundred and fifty bucks for everything."

   "Great," I said.  "Listen, Heather doesn't come in to work for close to
an hour.  Do you take credit cards over the phone?"

   "Sure.  Why?"

   "Because here's what I want you to do..."

   Twenty minutes later a girl I didn't know knocked on my door.  I knew
from her skirt and tuxedo shirt that she was another of the flower girls
from the bar.  I opened to let her in but she just handed me a large bundle
wrapped in paper.

   "Here's your purchase," she grinned.  "Be sure to get them in water
pretty soon, okay?"

   "I got it," I laughed.

   "Good.  So, this is pretty cool of you.  Have a good night, okay?" the
girl smiled.  I nodded and the girl spun in place, preparing to head down
the steps.

   "Hang on a second," I called as she turned to leave.  "Is everything set
at the bar?"

   "Yep!  Gotta get back there so I don't miss it.  Have fun!" she yelled
over her shoulder again as she practically skipped down the front sidewalk
to her car.

   I watched her go for a moment then quickly turned back inside.  I had a
lot of work to do before Heather arrived.

   *****

   Right on time, I thought as I heard someone knocking at my front door.
If everything had gone according to plan this would be Heather.  I checked
myself in the mirror one more time before opening the door.

   "Hi," I said, fighting to hold back the look of surprise on Heather's
face as she realized where she was.  My instructions to Billy had been to
tell Heather she had a delivery to make and I noted she was indeed carrying
a bundle of half a dozen roses in her hand.

   "Um...  hi," she finally said.  "What's going on?  Are these for you?"
she asked, holding up the flowers to me.

   "Nope.  They're for you," I said.  "Did you want to come in?"

   "I can't," she said.  "I have to get back to work."

   "Just come on in for a second," I said, holding the door open for her to
pass by me.  "Then you can decide if you want to go back."

   "I don't want to," she answered with exasperation.  "But you know I have
to...  we talked about...  this....  oh, wow."

   Heather had stepped inside and saw the results of the past twenty
minutes' labor.  The bundle the flower girl had brought over had contained
three dozen roses and I had spent nearly the last half hour filling
anything I could find to hold them.  Luckily a neighbor lady had been kind
enough to loan me four vases, and the roses were now arranged throughout
the living room.  The scent was nearly overpowering, and judging by the
look on Heather's face she had no idea what to think.

   "Those are for you too," I said as she took in the sight before her.  I
took the half dozen roses from her and quickly placed them in one of the
more empty vases.

   "They're beautiful," she whispered.  She spread out her arms and wrapped
me in a hug.  I could feel the swell of her breasts pressing against my
chest as she held me close.  "Thank you," she said and reluctantly broke
the embrace.  "But I still have to go."

   "No you don't," I grinned.  "These are your roses."

   "What do you mean?" she asked.

   "I mean these are what you were supposed to sell tonight.  I bought you
out over the phone.  You're completely sold out.  You have no more roses to
sell.  If you go back to Pablo's, Billy is just going to send you home."

   "You did this for me?" she squeaked, her eyes wide and her mouth open in
shock.

   "Well, I was hoping it would work out that I did it for the both of us,"
I grinned.  "So, what are you doing tonight?" I asked as casually as
possible.  The look on Heather's face was priceless, but I was still
unprepared and barely managed to catch her as she threw herself into my
arms.

   "I think I'm hanging out over here," she laughed.  Before I could react
she planted a kiss on my right cheek before slipping out of my arms.

   "Good," I laughed.  "I was hoping you'd see it my way."

   "Oh, I definitely do," she answered as she walked around the room,
smelling and rearranging the floral arrangements.  "What did you have in
mind?" she asked, looking down at her work uniform.  "I'm not sure if I'm
dressed appropriately for anywhere but work."

   I looked at her typical outfit - tight black skirt, snug white men's
tuxedo shirt with the top three or four buttons undone.  She had not worn
the cummerbund or tie, but she still looked gorgeous.  Heather caught my
eye and blushed as I allowed my gaze to wash over her body.

   "You're perfect," I said.  "Hungry?  I made dinner if you are."

   "I'd love it," she laughed and took my hand as the two of us walked into
the kitchen.

   Dinner was nothing more than broiled pork chops and baked potatoes with
a side of mixed vegetables, and a fruit cobbler for dessert, but with
Heather in the room I felt like I was in a fine restaurant.

   "You did all this?" she asked as she bit into her second bite of meat.
"It's delicious."

   "Ah, it was nothing," I said, waving my hand in dismissal.  "It took all
of about five minutes to get ready and maybe twenty to cook.  Put the
vegetables on the stove to heat, season the meat and throw it in the
broiler and toss the potatoes in the microwave.  Simple, easy bachelor's
food."

   "Well, it's still delicious," she said.

   During the meal the two of chatted about various things.  My life as a
graduate assistant, her days in class, various jobs we'd had.  But of
course the conversation eventually coming back around to the bar.

   "So how often do you come in?" she asked as she leaned against me. 
After dinner we had watched a movie on television and were now seated
beside each other on the couch.  I had grabbed the cobbler out of the oven
and was sitting carefully - a heating pad in my lap - as I fed each of us
spoonfuls of the hot dessert.

   "Not too often," I said.  "Once a week maybe, for a couple drinks.  It's
a good stress reliever."

   "I'm glad you came in," she said.

   "Why's that?" I asked, grinning as I forced another bite into her mouth.

   "Enough," she laughed.

   "Okay," I said, putting the cooled pan on the end table.  "So why are
you glad I came in?" I asked a second time.

   "Because I really enjoyed the meal tonight," she said with a twinkle in
her eye.

   "Oh," I answered, pretending to be upset.  "What about the company?"

   "The company was even better," she answered, leaning in toward me.  I
recognized the look in her eye and bent my head lower, quickly closing the
distance between us.  Our lips met in a soft kiss, gentle and sweet as we
explored each other with our mouths.

   "Wow," I said as we broke apart.  "Thanks for that," I said.

   "No problem," she grinned.  She relaxed against my side just looking
dreamily at the dozens of flowers scattered around the room when her eyes
lit on a picture frame sitting on an end table beside the couch.  "Who's
this?" she asked, picking it up to show me.  "An old girlfriend?"

   "No...  that's my sister.  Natalie."

   "She's cute," Heather said.  "Really pretty eyes."

   "Is she?" I asked rather naively.  "I guess it never occurred to me."

   "Why not?' Heather teased.  "You mean you had this gorgeous babe walking
around your house and you never even noticed?"

   "She's five years younger than I am," I pointed out.  "She was only
thirteen when I went off to college, and I haven't really seen her since.
Why?  Do you think I should have just jumped her bones, sister or not?" I
asked.

   "I might have," Heather teased, leaning over to kiss me soundly on the
mouth.  She moaned as our lips met and soon our tongues were fighting
together, dancing against one another as our hands roamed lightly over each
other's bodies.  The kiss finally broke and we were left panting lightly.

   Heather appeared ready to lean in for another go-round when she happened
to glance over my shoulder and saw the clock.

   "What?" I asked when I saw a look of disappointment flash over her face.

   "Damn," she muttered sadly.  "I've got to go.  It's getting close to
eleven o'clock and I need to get home.  I still have a lot of studying to
do and a paper to rewrite."

   "Don't you normally stay at Pablo's until it closes?" I asked, assuming
she worked until two in the morning, or at least until final call.  "Why
the rush to leave?"

   "I am on most nights," Heather explained.  "But I have a lot of regulars
come in and buy from me on Fridays, so I usually manage to get out of there
at a good hour.  I'm sorry," she said.

   "Well, if you must, you must," I sighed theatrically, bringing a smile
and a giggle to Heather's face.

   "I must," she agreed, bending as she stood up from the couch to kiss me
once more.  "But I had a really good time tonight."

   "Me too," I said.  "We should do this more often."

   "No, we shouldn't," Heather answered and I grimaced inside.

   "What do you mean?" I asked.  "I thought you enjoyed it."

   "Oh God, I did...  very much.  But I can't let you do this again."

   "Do what?"

   "This!" she said, sweeping her arm out and I realized she was talking
about the roses.

   "Oh, yeah.  That.  I won't," I promised.  "I don't know if I could
afford to date you if that was the case.  Don't worry," I said as Heather's
face broke out in a worried expression.  "It was most definitely worth it."

   "Really?" she asked, a grin breaking out over her beautiful face.

   "Really," I said, leaning down to kiss her on the tip of her nose,
causing her to giggle softly.

   "So we'll do this again?" Heather said.

   "Definitely," I answered.  Heather began to gather her things, pausing
at the door as I handed her a vase full of roses.  "These really were for
you," I said.  "Even if they aren't nearly as pretty."

   "You're too sweet," she answered as she left.  "Don't forget to clip the
ends."

   "What?" I asked.

   "The roses.  You have to keep cutting the ends of the stems.  If you
don't they'll wither up and die."

   I looked around and groaned as I saw I still had close to three dozen
roses scattered around my living room.  What had I gotten myself into?

   "You know...  I meant it.  I really did buy all these for you," I said
in an attempt to free myself from the added responsibility.  To my
disappointment Heather just laughed.

   "Nice try," she giggled.  "Although I suppose I could help you out."

   "You want some more?" I asked hopefully.  "Take as many as you want! 
How many?"

   "No, I don't want more.  These are wonderful," she said, smelling the
bouquet she held in her arms.  "This is more than enough for me.  But I'd
be happy to come over and we could cut the stems together."

   "Even better," I said.

   "Call me?" she asked.

   "Of course," I answered.  Heather blew me a kiss and turned to go.  I
watched her walk to her car, following with my eyes as she drove away.  My
heart felt like it would burst from its chest and it was almost like
walking on air as I cleaned up the dishes from our evening together.  What
a day, I thought.  What a day.

   I had hoped the possibility was there to see Heather one more time over
the weekend, but our schedules never quite meshed and I was fated to spend
the next two days alone.

   *****

   "Why don't you invite her to our concert?" Dr.  Bergerud asked.  I was
sitting in his office early Monday morning, having just explained the
previous weekend's success and had asked where he thought I should go from
here.

   "Really?  You think she'd like that?" I asked.  The concert the graduate
choir was singing wasn't a fun bunch of songs in my estimation and I wasn't
sure how Heather would react.  "I don't even know if she likes classical
music in general, much less the twentieth century stuff we're singing," I
said.

   "Then this will be a good test," he answered.

   "A good test of what?  How fast she can run out of the hall during the
intermission?  I like this girl...  I'm not trying to get rid of her!"

   "I know," he laughed.  "It's a good test of how much she likes you. 
Face it; this girl thinks you're something special.  She gave you her
number, she put up with your cooking..."

   "Hey, I can cook a hunk of meat with the best of them," I defended
myself.

   "I know, I know...  so you keep telling me.  But anyway, if Heather
really likes you as much as it seems then she'll put up with the kind of
music you like."

   "It sounds like I'm testing her."

   "You are," he replied.

   "But why?  Why now?  Isn't it a little soon for that kind of game? 
We've been on a total of one date, and that was really just dinner at my
place."

   "Maybe a little early," he admitted.  "But if this girl isn't what you
think she might be...  don't you want to learn now?"

   "I suppose," I answered.

   "It's like this," he sighed.  "When I was just out of college, a little
older than you are now, I was dating a really sweet girl by the name of
Betty.  We thought we were in love, but it turned out to be...  not love.
She left me after a couple years and it took me a long time to recover from
that."

   "Is that what happened?" I teased.  "I figured she just realized what
kind of a pervert you really are."

   "What?" he huffed.  "I'm nothing of the sort."

   "Oh, come on now," I chided.  "Don't think I don't see how you look up
the skirts of half the freshmen girls in your music history classes.  I'm
onto you."

   "Humph," he mumbled.  "Give me a little credit!  Those girls are the
same age as Katie.  It's not as if I'd do anything other than look."

   It was true I thought, both about the proximity in age to his daughter
and the fact that he would never move beyond the voyeur stage.  A couple of
months before, he had introduced me to his daughter Katie.  She was a
freshman in one of his classes this semester.  It was a little strange,
because before October I'd never had an inkling that he even had a
daughter, but even though he'd never mentioned her the professor and his
daughter actually seemed very close.

   "I know...  I'm just kidding around.  Kind of touchy about that, aren't
you?"

   "Well, there was a time in my life, when...  never mind.  That's gone
and buried."

   "What are you talking about?" I wondered.  It had almost sounded like
the professor had once slept with a student, but I refused to believe it.

   "Nothing.  Nothing important.  The point was that I didn't find out
until it was too late about Betty.  I don't want you to make the same
mistake."

   "It still seems a little early," I tried again.

   "Well, Heather doesn't need to know this is a test.  She can always just
believe you have bad taste in music."

   "And we both know who to blame for that," I retorted, my finger pointed
square in his chest.

   "Guilty," he laughed, raising his hand in defeat.  "Guilty as charged."

   The two of us laughed and talked for a little while longer, but the
whole time I was thinking of the best way to approach Heather about
attending the concert later that week.  I finally just decided to drop by
Pablo's after I finished with my classes.  I had a couple of evening
sessions on Monday night so after those finished I stopped into the bar to
see if Heather was still there.

   She saw me as I entered and waved from one of the tables in back.  She
appeared in the middle of a sale so I stood by the door and waited.  As I
was passing the time, Michelle happened to walk by and made a point to stop
for a moment.

   "You come back for a real woman?" she asked, her eyes sweeping over my
body.

   "Yep," I answered.  Michelle nodded at my answer, a glint forming in her
eye.

   She obviously thought I was talking about her and I intended to milk
this as far as I could.  As I was talking I saw Heather finish her sale and
begin walking to where I was standing.  As she neared the door she
quickened her pace, a concerned expression on her face as she saw that
Michelle had effectively cornered me by the coat rack.

   "Really?" she asked.  "You came back for some good lovin'?"

   "I did," I said as Heather walked, unnoticed behind Michelle.  "I
decided that what I really want is someone who makes my heart sing. 
Someone I think about constantly.  Someone I want nothing more from than to
hear her say "hey there, handsome" whenever I walk in and someone who'll
give me a great big kiss.  Do you know anyone like that?" I asked.  Before
Michelle could answer I turned to speak over her shoulder to Heather.  "Do
you know someone like that?"

   "I do," she answered, bumping a stunned Michelle out of the way with her
hip.

   "Hey there, Beautiful," I said.

   "Hey there, Handsome," she grinned.  Michelle stood there, her face
almost expressionless as Heather reached up with her free arm to pull my
head closer to her face.  She puckered up and gave me a kiss that I swear
curled my socks.  We must have made a scene, the kiss lasted so long.  Out
of the corner of my eye I saw a fuming Michelle watch us for a moment
before stalking off, but all my attentions were on Heather.

   "Now that's what I was talking about," I laughed as Heather finally
pulled free.  Her faced was flushed and she appeared out of breath,
although I'm sure I looked much the same.

   "Good enough?" she giggled.

   "Definitely," I said.

   "What brings you by?" she asked.  "If you're here to buy me out you're
too late.  I'm down to a dozen or so roses tonight and besides, I really
have to study."

   "Nothing like that," I laughed.  "I just stopped by to say hello.  The
bar is on my way home from campus and I just wondered...  you traded to
have Friday off this week, right?"

   "Yeah, why?"

   "Are you busy that night?"

   "Actually I'm not, but I thought you had your concert on Friday."

   "I do...  I was wondering if you wanted to come hear me sing."

   "Oh!  Um...  yeah, sure!  I'd love to!"

   "Really?" I asked, somewhat surprised at how quickly she agreed.

   "Yeah, that could be fun.  Why?" she asked, looking at me suspiciously.
"You don't seem too happy about that.  Will I not have a good time?  Should
I bring earplugs or something?  Are you guys not any good?"

   "No.  I mean yes.  I mean...  yes, we're good.  And...  I don't know if
you'll enjoy yourself.  I wasn't real sure if classical music was your kind
of thing," I said by way of explanation.

   "It's not really...  not generally," Heather answered.  "But I would
love to come listen to you."

   "Great!" I said.  "I should let you get back to work, but can I see you
after the concert?  That's really the only time I have free this week, but
the concert should be finished by nine o'clock.  Time enough for a late
dinner at least."

   "Sure," she answered.  "But this time I cook."

   "Oh," said, grimacing as I heard this.  "Was the food not good on
Friday?"

   "No, it was great, but it's just my turn this time.  Deal?" she asked,
cocking her eyebrow at me.

   "Deal," I answered, nodding my head in agreement.  "Okay then, I'll let
you get back to work.  Bye," I said and started heading to the door.

   "Bye, and thanks for thinking of me," she grinned and waved as I left.

   "I always do," I thought to myself as I headed out into the cold.  "I
always do."

   *****

   The rest of the week was pretty much a blur of activity for me.  Heather
and I had a chance to talk on the phone for a few minutes Thursday night. I
was happy for the time we talked, because I had forgotten to tell her when
and where the concert was.  She promised to meet me in the lobby of the
performance hall after the final number, and that was about the extent of
our conversation.

   Friday finally rolled around, and as usual I was a mix of emotions.  I
have always loved singing, but have never been comfortable standing up in
front of people if I am performing, especially if I have a solo.  It hadn't
occurred to me when I asked Heather, but during this concert I had a solo
and the thought of her sitting in the audience listening only made me more
nervous.

   At the same time, I was happy to know she would be attending.  We had
really only known each other a few weeks but it was nice of her to attend,
especially since I knew the music we were singing wasn't her normal
listening fare.

   Thankfully the concert went off without a hitch.  The concert was part
of a cultural event the college put on each winter.  This semester the
theme was the culture and music of Asia, so all of our pieces had a
distinct sound.  The solo I was singing was during a Mongolian piece and
happily everything went fine.  It helped that I sang the solo from the
safety of the entire choir as opposed to being out in front of the group.

   After the concert was over I hurried to the lobby.  A few of my
professors and fellow students congratulated me on the success of the
concert, but I was distracted as I searched for Heather.

   Finally I spotted her, leaning against a wall on the very edge of the
room.  She didn't look bored exactly, but I could tell there were countless
other places she would rather be.  I grabbed my coat from the rehearsal
room and walked over to where Heather was standing.

   "Hey," I said softly.  She looked up, startled at my sudden appearance.
"How did you like it?" I asked.

   "It was...  different," she said.  "I'm sorry, it wasn't quite what I
was expecting," she admitted.  "But you were really good, and the soprano
soloist was pretty cute, even if I couldn't understand a word she was
singing."

   "That's okay," I laughed.  "I don't have any idea either, so we're even,
right?"

   "I guess."

   "Don't worry about it.  I was surprised you agreed to come and it makes
me happy just knowing you were here for it.  Do you want to get out of
here?"

   "Can we?  Don't you have people to talk to or things to do?"

   "I'm all set," I said.  "I'm already wearing my coat.  We can leave or
stay.  It's up to you."

   "Then let's go," Heather said and I laughed as she almost sprinted
toward the doors.

   To my surprise and pleasure, once we were out in the chilly night air
Heather grabbed my hand as we walked through the rows of parked cars.  It
was a fairly brisk evening and although the plan had originally been a
leisurely walk around one of the lakes on campus the two of us soon ended
up huddled together on a park bench, pressed together for warmth.

   "I thought I was supposed to cook for you," Heather said.

   I grinned in response.  "I'm not that hungry right now.  Are you?"

   "No."

   "Cold?"

   "A little," she answered.

   "Let me warm you up," I said casually, throwing my arm around her
shoulders.

   "You're such a goof," Heather giggled, taking my hand and pulling
herself closer to me.  We sat there in silence, just enjoying the evening
together.

   Eventually I noticed the time and with apologies mentioned I really had
to get going.

   "Sorry," I said.  "I have so much to do yet as far as getting papers and
assignments corrected, I'm going in on the weekend."

   The two of us walked back toward the performance hall where our cars
were parked.  As much as I hated to see Heather go, I knew there would be
other chances.

   "I really did have a good time," she said as we approached our vehicles.
"It was fun."

   "I don't know if I believe that," I said.  "But I suppose I'll let it
slide."

   "I probably had a better time than you would have at one of my
concerts," she giggled.

   "Oh?  Do you sing?" I asked a bit naively.

   "Not a bit," she said, still giggling softly.  "I'm more into...  I
suppose hardcore punk is what you'd call it."

   "Really?" I asked.  "And you seemed like such a nice girl."

   "I'm really nice," she said, squeezing my hand tightly.  "But I can be
kind of a bad girl too."

   "Hmm...  I think I like that."

   "Of course you do," she laughed.  "You're a guy." We stood in silence
for a moment, neither of us wanting the moment to end, before Heather
turned to me excitedly.  "You know, there's a show I was planning on going
to next week.  You wanna come with me?"

   "What kind of show?" I asked.

   "One of my favorite bands," she answered vaguely.

   "And you think I'll enjoy it?" I asked.  I enjoyed rock bands as much as
the next guy, but the untuned guitars and screaming singers did very little
for my appreciation of the song writing, although I certainly admired the
energy.

   "I don't know.  I bet you'll have a good time.  How could you not?  I'll
be there!" she laughed.

   "You think I'm that easy?" I teased.

   "Duh.  Of course you are.  You're a guy, but we already established
that."

   "I suppose you're right.  I am that easy.  Gimme a kiss?" I asked,
puckering up my lips as much as I could.

   "You're such a dork," Heather laughed, but she leaned over and quickly
brushed her lips over mine before unlocking her car door.

   "That's it?" I said in mock sadness.  "That's all I get?"

   "We haven't even had dinner yet," Heather replied.

   "But we still will, won't we?" I asked anxiously.

   "Of course," she laughed.  "Consider that me...  whetting your
appetite."

   "Oh, so that was just an appetizer then?"

   "I suppose so," she grinned.

   "Mmm...  then I can't wait for the main course.  What are we having?"

   "You'll just have to wait," she said as she climbed into her car.  "But
I guarantee you dessert will be even better."

   Part Four

   True to her word, Heather called me at home the evening after my choir
concert and the two of us made plans to attend her rock concert together.
It was a band I'd not heard of, but according to Heather they were a local
group and had made it pretty big.

   "I can't believe you haven't heard of them," she said in amazement.

   "What kind of band are they again?" I asked.

   "I told you.  Hardcore punk with some rap thrown in."

   "And there are enough people in Omaha to fill the Civic Center just to
see them play?" I questioned.

   "They're really popular right now and besides, I said they're local. 
Dan, you're not thinking of backing out on me, are you?" Heather accused.

   "No.  A promise is a promise," I said, throwing my arms in the air in
surrender.

   "Good."

   "Besides, you promised me a good time."

   "And I always deliver," she laughed.  We chatted for a few minutes but
Heather was almost late for work and had to hurry off.

   The next week went by in a rush and before I knew it the day of the
concert had arrived.  Heather picked me up at my apartment and we drove the
few miles into downtown Omaha, managing to find a parking place in a small
lot up the hill from the Civic Center.

   "This is great!" Heather exclaimed as we hurried down the street to the
venue.  "Parking is always insane for concerts here," she said, once again
proclaiming our good fortune.

   "What kind of a crowd are they expecting?" I wondered out loud as we
passed a policeman on horseback sitting on the edge of the curb.

   "Oh, don't worry about that," Heather answered.  "He's just there to
keep us off the streets during rush hour."

   The two of us showed our tickets and had our hands stamped and before I
knew it we were inside the arena.  I was surprised to find out that the
venue had no seats on the main floor.

   "Isn't that cool?" laughed Heather.  "We can get as close as we want!"

   "Should I have brought earplugs with me?" I teased, remembering that
Heather had asked me the same question about my concert.

   "Nope," she said, reaching into her purse.  "I brought two pairs with me
tonight."

   "Why?" I asked, looking at her in confusion.

   "Because they're loud, silly!" she laughed, handing me the pair of soft
foam earplugs.  "And because we're going to be right up front."

   "Are you sure about this?" I asked as I allowed myself to be pulled
toward the front of the auditorium, pushing past clumps of teens, seemingly
all of them dressed completely in black.  I had never in my life seen as
much body piercing and I made a mental note to ask Heather if she had any
extra bits of metal pounded through her skin.

   "Of course I'm sure," Heather answered.  She finally settled on a spot
fifteen or twenty feet from the stage and promptly sat on the ground.

   "Marking our territory?" I asked.

   "No, just resting," Heather answered.  "Once the show starts we'll be a
lot closer, but staying back for right now keeps us from getting trampled."

   "Trampled?" I asked, wondering if I should be watching my back instead
of paying attention to the stage.

   "It's happened before," Heather shrugged.

   "To you?"

   "Yeah," she answered.  "But it was no big deal."

   "No big deal?  You got trampled!  You have any scars?"

   "Just one, but I can't show it to you here."

   "Why not?" I asked, before I realized the answer.  Heather just grinned.

   "Daniel!  It's private," she whispered loudly, smiling at my discomfort.
"But if you ask nicely I'll show it to you later."

   "Really?" I asked, my mind running wild at the possibilities.  To my
horror I felt my cock swelling to attention as I imagined Heather
undressing to show me her scar.  Why she would need to be completely naked
was beyond me, but it was a fantasy so I let the inconsistency slide. 
Unfortunately the erection in my jeans was anything but a fantasy and as
Heather pulled me to my feet I saw her eyes flick over the bulge.

   Fortunately there was little time for Heather to say anything as we
found ourselves pressed forward in the crush of the crowd.

   "Hold on!" she shouted over her shoulder as the band took the stage to
the thunderous roar of the crowd.  I grabbed at her offered hand, finally
managing to catch hold of two fingers.  I pulled myself close behind
Heather who was already jumping up and down to the rhythmic drumming of the
first song.

   Heather grinned over her shoulder at me, catching my wrists and placing
my hands on her hips.  Heather was wearing a low-slung pair of jeans and a
thin white shirt that threatened to give way with each wobble of her tits.
Heather seemed not to notice, although as I gripped at her smooth flesh,
pulling her body tight against mine she must have felt the result of the
distraction.

   I'm sure my face was crimson with embarrassment but Heather allayed any
fears I might have had as she ground her ass against my erection.  I felt
my pole slip between her firm butt cheeks as our bodies molded to one
another.  For the next ninety minutes the two of us may as well have been
one body, we were that close.

   At one point the stage went dark and I realized the band had left for
the obligatory encore break.  Heather took the opportunity to grab my
hands, which had not strayed from her midsection.  She pulled me upward and
I gasped as I suddenly found myself with a handful of soft tit.  Even
through the shirt I could feel Heather was wearing no bra and the hard
pebbles of her nipples pressed hotly into my palms.

   I leaned forward and - even over the chanting of the crowd - I could
hear Heather sigh lightly as I fondled her breasts.  Once she was sure my
hands were not straying from their current positions she released my
wrists. One of her hands reached between our bodies to stroke the shaft of
my cock through my jeans.

   As she was doing this, the lights went on and the band came back onstage
for one or two more songs.  I tried to pull away, noticing the stares of
some other concertgoers but Heather would have none of it.  Her free hand
moved quickly to my hands, pressing me more firmly against her breasts and
held me there during the encore.

   "So what did you think Daniel?" Heather asked innocently as we walked
back to her car.  She grinned at me knowingly, leering at the front of my
jeans, thankfully now showing no signs of my previous arousal.  It had
taken a full ten minutes alone in a bathroom stall for me to will my
erection to go soft, but I was now able to walk around in public without
drawing undue attention.

   "About what?" I asked distractedly.  Heather laughed and reached back to
pinch one of my butt cheeks.

   "The band silly.  I know what you think of the rest of it." She grinned
as I blushed although in the dark I'm sure she couldn't see my features
turn crimson.

   "Oh...  they were fine, I guess."

   "That's it?  Fine?  This was one of the best concerts I've ever been
to!" Heather exclaimed.

   "Me too," I laughed.

   "What?  I thought you didn't really care for the band."

   "Honestly?  I didn't." They were okay, but the rest of the concert..." I
grinned, taking Heather's hand and holding tight.  "The rest of the concert
was superb."

   We walked back to the car in silence.  After the short drive back to
campus I invited Heather into my place for a drink, but she begged off,
saying she had to study for finals.  We made tentative plans to get
together before the holidays and with one last kiss goodnight the evening
was over.

   *****

   "So, what's up?" Heather asked a couple days later.

   "Not much," I sighed.  "All of this end of semester stuff is getting to
me though!  I always thought it was horrible having tons of finals so close
to Christmas, but it's ten times as bad now that I have to grade everyone's
term papers.  And all of my work is in addition to getting my own projects
completed." I groaned as I realized I still had piles of work to do and not
too many more hours of office time to get it finished.  "It sucks."

   "Oh, you poor baby," Heather cooed.  "How can I make it all better?"

   "You could cook for me," I suggested hopefully.

   "That's right!" Heather exclaimed.  "I'd almost forgotten that I owe you
a meal!  What do you want?"

   "Whatever's fine," I answered.  "I'm easy."

   "Guys!" Heather laughed.  "You should all just make up your minds for
once...  all of you!"

   "What do you mean?" I asked.

   "You're always so wishy-washy about everything!"

   "We are not."

   "Are too!  Nothing is every all that important to you.  It doesn't
really matter to you what we do, or what we eat."

   "That's not true," I said, trying to sound hurt.  "I care."

   "Oh, do you?" she asked skeptically.

   "Of course I do!"

   "Then why don't you make a decision for once?"

   "Wait a minute...  are you talking about guys in general, or me in
particular?"

   "All of you!"

   "Sheesh...  what's up with you?  What brought this on?"

   "I offered to cook you a meal, and you act like you don't really care!"

   "I do care...  I just...  I don't know what kind of stuff you have at
home, and I don't want you to go to a lot of trouble just for me."

   "It's no trouble," Heather stressed.  "I want to do something nice for
you.  After all...  you put up with my concert, didn't you?"

   "Well, yeah...  but you put up with mine too," I laughed.  "So we're
even.  Fair enough?"

   "Whatever," Heather answered softly, and I wondered if something else
was going on besides my apparent inability to make a decision.

   "Heather?"

   "What?"

   "What's going on?"

   "What do you mean?"

   "I mean...  I'm sorry, but you're kind of overreacting here.  Is
everything okay?"

   "Yes," she answered after a moment's hesitation.

   "Liar," I said quietly.  "Everything is obviously not okay.  What's
going on?" I asked again.

   "It's...  I don't really know.  Life is just really complicated all of a
sudden.  I think I need a new job for one thing.  Selling flowers just
doesn't cut it, and I'm barely paying my bills on time, and I'm even late
on this month's rent.  Then my classes are all hectic and I'm trying to
juggle all of that with you..." she trailed off.

   "I'm sorry," I finally managed.  "I definitely don't mean to be a
burden."

   "Oh, God...  I didn't mean it like that!  You're the only good thing
happening right now."

   "Good to hear," I said, laughing a bit.  "For a minute I was worried."

   "Don't be," Heather sighed.  "I'm sorry...  I just...  it's all too
much. Sometimes I just want to be pampered."

   "Shit, and here I am, making you figure everything out.  You don't have
to cook for me, you know."

   "No, it's not that.  I really want to...  you just...  I think you
caught me at a bad moment is all."

   "Are you sure?"

   "I suppose...  yes, I'm definitely sure," Heather replied.

   "Good," I answered.  "Because I didn't go grocery shopping last night
because I knew you were cooking.  And don't worry about it, okay?  I'm sure
whatever you make will be fine.  I'm really looking forward to dessert at
the very least.  You promised me it would be good, and I don't even know
what it will be!"

   Suddenly Heather's voice became sultry over the phone - apparently her
concern over life's hassles had evaporated - and even without seeing her I
imagined her eyes getting heavy with passion as her voice deepened.

   "That's right, I did say something about that, didn't I?" she said
throatily.

   "What did you have in mind?" I asked.

   "What do you want?" she countered.

   "What do you mean?"

   "For food, silly!  You do have to make a decision.  I wasn't kidding
about that!"

   "Fine...  how about lasagna?" I asked.  "Too much?"

   "Finally!" Heather laughed.  "I knew it was that simple...  just get a
guy thinking there's sex involved and suddenly the decisions come that much
quicker.  I knew it!"

   "You're so mean," I said, shaking my head.  "Don't you realize that you
have it all wrong?"

   "What are you talking about?  You know I'm right!"

   "Not at all...  you want to know why guys are so easy-going and
noncommittal around you?"

   "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

   "Sex."

   "Sex?  What are you talking about?"

   "Guys...  at least in my experience...  are so desperate to get into a
girl's pants that they'll agree with anything, in order not to piss off the
girl."

   "I should be offended at that, right?" Heather asked in a wounded voice,
although I could hear the grin behind the words.

   "Why?"

   "You just admitted that you're trying to get into my pants!" Heather
laughed.

   "Well, it seemed like the next logical step," I said, laughing along
with her.

   "Oh really?"

   "Sure.  I was practically inside your shirt at the concert.  It seemed
like the pants should be the next thing."

   "You're so bad," Heather laughed.  "But I suppose you're right."

   "I am?" I gulped.

   "I did promise that you could see my scar."

   "What scar?" I asked.

   "The one you couldn't see at the concert."

   "Ah, that's right!"

   "So you see, you have a couple things to look forward to.  Getting into
my pants - but only to see the scar - and dessert."

   "Sounds good," I said.  "When should I come over?"

   "How about tomorrow night?" Heather said.  "I don't work...  are you
busy?"

   "Well, yeah actually, but for lasagna and dessert and a free peep show I
can stay up extra late to cram."

   "So bad!" Heather laughed again.  "It's a date then.  I'll see you
tomorrow?"

   "Sure."

   We chatted for a few more minutes before I begged off, pleading an
excessive amount of work to get done before the next evening.  After a few
hours of intensive work - on both my own projects and grading assignments
for the music department - I went to bed, my head filled with thoughts of
the next evening.

   *****

   I woke the next morning, bleary eyed and not at all refreshed from my
sleep.  My dreams had been haunted by horrible visions of Heather.  In my
dreams the two of us were standing in her living room, surrounded by roses
and lasagna, loud punk music blaring from her stereo.  Heather began
unbuttoning her blouse in order to show me her scar and in my dream I grew
more and more excited.

   My anticipation quickly turned to revulsion however, as her entire upper
body appeared to be covered with pasty white scar tissue.

   "It's okay," she said in my dream.  "It doesn't hurt.  You can touch it
if you want."

   Unfortunately, in my dream I was not as gallant - or as tactful - as I
like to think I would be in real life, and I recoiled in horror.

   "Don't you like it?" Heather asked as she advanced on my retreating
form.

   "It's fine," I said lamely.  To my dismay, in my dream I bolted from her
apartment, Heather's cry of disappointment still ringing in my ears as I
woke with a start.  I found myself tangled in my sheets, my body covered
with sweat.

   "Get a grip," I said to myself as I showered.  "It can't be that bad,
and besides, Heather seems fine with it."

   I was still preoccupied with my dream - or rather my nightmare - as I
walked into the music department.  It had been a disappointment to both Dr.
Bergerud and myself that Estelle had decided to take off the rest of the
semester after her nasty fall, and I was not looking forward to another
early morning confrontation with Ms.  Parker.  I braced myself for the
harsh voice of the replacement secretary, but to my surprise there was a
new face at the secretary's desk.

   "Hi Daniel," a chipper voice called to me, and I had to look twice
before I realized that I recognized the new office worker.

   "Katie?" I asked incredulously, "Is that you?"

   "I look a little different, don't I?" asked Professor B's daughter.

   "You sure do!" I exclaimed.  "You look so...  so..."

   "Professional?" she smiled.

   "Yeah...  what happened?" Katie Bergerud had been in the music office a
few times during the first semester, but until recently I had not been
aware that she was Professor Bergerud's daughter.  She had usually been
through to get help with assignments, although I hadn't had that much
direct contact with her, although I had seen her enough to see she
generally dressed like any of the college freshmen.

   "My dad said if I wanted to earn a few dollars he had an opening for me
for a week or so," she said.  "But I had to get almost an entirely new
wardrobe!"

   "You look good," I said truthfully, admiring the sharp lines of her
business suit.  Katie was a beautiful girl, although the Professor always
joked she got her looks completely from her mother.  I had never seen Mrs.
Bergerud, but if her husband was telling the truth - and I had no reason to
believe otherwise - the Professor had one fine looking family.

   "Thanks," Katie said, just as the phone rang.  She motioned for me to
stay where I was for a moment while she answered the call.  "Music Office,"
she said crisply.  "This is Katie speaking."

   I stood as she dealt with the caller, transferring whoever it was to her
father's phone.  When she hung up she looked at me intently for a moment.

   "What?" I asked.

   "Nothing," she said.  "My dad's told me a lot about you but we've never
really chatted that much."

   "Oh.  Um...  I guess not.  How's college going?" I asked.

   "Great!" she laughed, her cheeks dimpling slightly.  "I just love my
classes, although my dad's kind of a harsh grader."

   "I should probably take part of the blame for that," I said guility.  "I
grade a lot of the assignment.  Although, if you don't mind me asking, how
did you end up in his section anyway?" I asked.  "Isn't it kind of strange
to have him as a teacher?"

   "Not really.  I mean, it was strange at first, but now I think it's
great!  How many other students have access to their teachers 24/7 like I
do?"

   "Is that a good thing?"

   "Sure!  Well, I guess not always, especially when I'm not doing so
great. He can be pretty tough, but still...  I love him!"

   "That's cool," I said absentmindedly as I walked back to my office,
again curious at how close the two seemed.  Most people around my age -
myself included - wanted nothing more than to get out of the house and put
as much distance between themselves and their parents as possible, but
Katie seemed just the opposite.  She seemed so devoted to him it was
strange.  But who was I to argue or disagree?  Even though I'd escaped the
house as soon as I could, I had always been very close to my own family.

   "How's it going?" I heard Professor Bergerud call out from his office. I
pushed open his door and saw him sitting behind his desk.  I noted with a
bit of satisfaction that his own workspace was - if possible - even more
loaded down with papers than my own.

   "Good," I answered.  "Finally someone pleasant in the office!" I
laughed.

   "What do you mean?" he asked, misunderstanding my comment.  "Wasn't
Katie nice to you?  I'll have to have words with her about that," he
mumbled to himself, so quietly I wasn't sure if he intended for me to hear.

   "No, I was talking about Katie!" I said.  "She was certainly a sight for
sore eyes after the last couple weeks.  That Janet...  excuse me, Ms. 
Parker, was something, wasn't she?"

   "Don't remind me," he laughed.  "So tell me Daniel, do you have any
plans for Christmas?"

   "Not really," I said.  "I'm going to visit my parents in Illinois, but
that's about it."

   "Illinois?" he asked.  "I thought you were from around here."

   "I am, but after I started college everyone else moved."

   "Oh, right...  they moved a couple years ago, right?" he asked, and I
nodded.  "So, what about Heather?" he asked pointedly.  "Are you taking her
home to meet the parents?"

   "Nah," I shrugged.  "I thought about it, but she's visiting her folks
out of state.  Besides, it seemed a little early.  Besides, we talked on
the phone last night, and we're getting together tonight.  We have a little
time before break.  It's fine," I said.

   "Fair enough."

   "So, what size is the pile of work on my desk?" I asked.  "I see you
have quite a bit for yourself."

   "Don't worry," he laughed.  "I saved you some."

   "I'm sure you did," I grinned.  "I'm sure you did."

   *****

   Unbelievably, by the time I got home from school that night, I had
almost forgotten about that evening's dinner date with Heather.  I was laid
out on the couch, in that space between consciousness and sleep when the
phone rang.

   "Hello?" I mumbled.

   "Dan, are you okay?"

   "Heather?"

   "Who else?  Where are you?" she asked.

   "What do you mean?" I asked before the realization hit me.  I jumped off
the couch, frantically checking the clock.  It was already twenty minutes
after seven o'clock.  Somehow I had managed to sleep for two hours.

   "Dinner, remember?" she said, and I could hear the exasperation in her
voice.

   "I'm so sorry," I said as sincerely as I could.  "School sucked today
and I fell asleep on the couch."

   "How soon can you be here?" she asked.

   "Ten...  fifteen minutes," I said.  I looked in the hall mirror, decided
that I had no need to shave and that my hair wasn't too bad, all things
considered.

   "Okay, hurry up," Heather said and quickly hung up.

   I arrived, nervous and out of breath, twelve minutes later.  I waited by
the downstairs door while Heather buzzed me into the apartment building.

   "Sorry," I apologized again when I arrived at her door.

   "Don't worry about it," Heather replied, stepping back from the door to
allow me to enter.  Her apartment was small - barely more than a studio -
but Heather had somehow decorated so that it appeared much larger.  There
was a distinct sleeping area, a television and stereo in one corner, and a
desk piled high with books.  I could see into her closet, which appeared to
be mostly empty and grinned when I saw a chest of drawers sitting
underneath her hanging clothes.

   "What's so funny?" Heather asked when she saw my smile.

   "Your dresser in the closet," I explained.  "I did the same thing in my
first dorm room."

   "It saves space," Heather answered, gesturing to the rest of the
apartment.  "And as you can see, space is really at a premium here."

   "Nah, I like it," I said.  "It's...  it's nice and comfortable."

   "Good," Heather nodded.  "Because as you can see I don't have a table,
so where do you want to eat, on the floor on on my bed?"

   "Couldn't wait to jump into bed with me, huh?" I teased.  "I'm joking,
the bed is fine.  I promise to be a gentleman." I laughed, raising my right
hand as if giving a pledge.  "I swear."

   "Too bad," Heather laughed, making a 'tsk' sound with her tongue.  "I
was kind of hoping you might decide to be a little bad tonight."

   "Oh really?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.  "I can do that."

   "Anything to get into my pants, right?" she laughed.

   "Exactly."

   "Well, that will just have to wait," she said, hurrying the short
distance to the stove.  Heather grabbed an oven mitt and carefully
extracted a large dish of lasagna, the melted cheese still bubbling on top.

   "Holy crap!" I said, amazed at the size of the dish.  "Did you make
enough?"

   "Probably not," she admitted.  "Trust me, I love leftovers!"

   "Fair enough," I laughed.

   "Can you grab those plates?" Heather asked, motioning with her head.  I
nodded and grabbed the plates, along with the serving spatula and two
forks.

   The two of us sat on Heather's bed, the dish of lasagna sitting between
us as we waited for it to cool.

   "You know," she said after a bite of one of the breadsticks she had also
prepared.  "I hate to even mention it, but we don't need to use the plates.
I'm so used to eating alone that I generally just eat right out of the
dish."

   "You what?" I said in mock horror.  "I suppose you drink right out of
the milk carton too, right?"

   "Like you don't?" she snorted.

   "Fine...  guilty as charged," I said.  But having decided that table
manners were of little importance, the two of us decided to dig right in
and had quickly demolished just less than half the food.

   "That was really good," I said as I leaned back against the headboard,
careful to keep my feet away from the leftover lasagna.

   "It was indeed," Heather replied.  She had leaned against the wall,
perpendicular to the bed and was now sitting with her legs draped over
mine.

   "You did a fine job of cooking," I said, reaching out to pat Heather on
the leg.  I felt her leg muscles twitch under my fingers and with an evil
glint in my eye I started to quickly knead the soft tissue just above her
left knee.

   "Stop it!" she laughed, trying jerk her legs away from me but I was too
quick and reached out with my left hand, trapping her legs at the ankles as
I continued my assault.  Heather squealed indignantly and again tried to
wrestle away from my grip but I continued tickling her legs, occasionally
moving my hand around and teasing the skin on the back of her knees.

   As Heather laughed under my touch, still squirming on the bed, I
realized that her skirt, which would normally have fallen to just below her
knee, had begun to creep up her legs.  Aware that Heather hadn't noticed
anything unusual, I doubled my assault and soon had Heather screaming with
laughter as she twisted on the bed.

   Just as the clingy fabric of her skirt threatened to slip past the top
of her thighs and reveal the color of her panties Heather noticed my gaze.
To my disappointment she managed to pull from my grasp and lay there on the
bed, panting and out of breath.

   "Pervert," Heather accused, a smile playing over her face as she said
it.

   "Me?" I asked in a small voice, pretending to be innocent of all
wrong-doing.  "What did I do?"

   "You were trying to peek up my skirt," she said primly, tucking the
skirt down over her knees and smoothing it over her thighs.

   "Now why would I do a thing like that?" I wondered aloud.

   "Because you're a boy, and all boys are naughty perverts."

   "Well, if that's what we are, then I probably couldn't help it, now
could I?" I asked, proud of my logic.  "I'm only doing what nature
intended."

   "Is that so?" Heather asked.

   "I think it must be," I said as I slowly reached out a hand to once more
touch Heather's smooth leg.  Heather was well-muscled and her thighs were
firm as I brushed aside the skirt and again rested my fingers just above
her knee.  "Besides, you promised me a peep show, so where's that scar?" I
leered.

   "Keep going," Heather said quietly, silently spreading her thighs apart
as my hand slowly slid up her leg.  She twisted around so she was nearly
facing me and I found myself looking straight up between her legs at the
shiny material of Heather's panties.  They were pink and the material had
stretched over her labia, the outline of her pussy clear to my view.

   "Am I getting close?" I asked softly, my eyes sliding up Heather's body.
Her nipples were clearly evident as they poked through her blouse, which
Heather had somehow managed to partially unbutton while I was otherwise
preoccupied.  I kept raising my gaze until my eyes were locked with
Heather's.  She grinned as my hand slipped further up her thigh and shook
her head.

   "The scar's not on the top of my leg," she whispered huskily.

   "No?" I asked, sliding my hand down until it was wedged between the
bottom of her legs and the bedspread.  "Is it back here?"

   "Maybe," she said in response.  Heather pulled herself up, turning to
face me completely, her knees now straddling my right leg.

   "Let's see," I said seriously.  I brought both hands into play, each
moving feverishly over her soft skin, drawing a moan of appreciation from
Heather's lips.  Taking a chance I slipped both hands around Heather's body
and took a handful of her firm behind with each.

   "It's not there either," she said, grinning as she ground her ass cheeks
against my hands.

   "Hmm...  I replied.  "The scar isn't on top of your leg, it's not
underneath or behind, so where could it be?" I pulled her skirt up above
Heather's waist, taking my time in "searching" for the scar.  "I don't see
it, I finally said, shaking my head in wonder.  "Where could it be?"

   "Give me your hand," Heather whispered.  She took hold of my right hand,
placing the palm on the inside of her right thigh.  I began trailing my
fingers over the pale white flesh of her inner thigh, steadily moving
upward.

   "Am I close?" I asked, the back of my hand only inches from the bottom
of Heather's panties.  Her legs were spread wider and I could see a faint
damp spot dotting the front of her underwear, the scent of her arousal very
apparent in the air.

   "Very close," she said.  "Just a little bit higher."

   I moved my hand up an inch or two until my fingers ran across a jagged
bump of scar tissue, pencil thin and no more than a couple of inches long.
Just as my fingers touched the old wound my hand bumped against the bottom
of Heather's pussy and she gave out a low moan at the contact.

   "Did I find it?" I asked, looking into her eyes as I began moving my
fingers over the scar, rubbing my hand through the dampness at the juncture
of her thighs at the same time.  "I had thought it might be bigger," I
admitted sheepishly, remembering the horrible dream I'd had the night
before.

   "That's it," Heather hissed.  She twisted her hips, causing my hand to
come into firmer contact with her pussy and gave another low moan.

   "Does it feel good when I touch it?" I asked.

   "Touch what?" Heather groaned as I allowed my thumb to slide between the
covered lips of her pussy.  The material of her panties was sticky with her
juices and as I pressed more firmly against her labia I felt Heather give a
small shudder.

   "Your scar," I grinned as I slowly masturbated her, trying to keep up
the pretense of searching for her scar.  "Do you like it when I touch the
scar?"

   "God, yes," she hissed.

   "How did you get it?" I asked, carefully slipping aside the crotch of
the flimsy panties to touch the smooth, hot wetness of Heather's pussy with
my finger.  She began to tell the story of how she got the scar, all the
while grinding her pussy down against my hand as she brought herself closer
and closer to orgasm.

   "I was fifteen," she said.  "I was at a concert and people started... 
oh God!  People started jumping up on the folding chairs and I did too."

   "Yes?" I asked.

   "Right there...  oh yes, right there.  Anyway," she continued, pausing
to catch her breath as I started sliding my thumb over the nub of her clit,
spreading the sticky juices seeping from her pussy over the tiny bundle of
nerves.  "Anyway, I got up on my chair too, but I was so light that when
someone bumped into me I fell.  And when I landed I fell across the back of
a wooden folding chair and I ripped up the inside of my thigh."

   "Ouch," I said.  "But you're all better now?"

   "Oh God yes," she hissed, beginning to hump her hips down on my hand.  I
felt her climax coming closer and sped my movements.  Oblivious to anything
other than her own pleasure, Heather reached into her blouse and began
teasing her nipples through her bra.

   "Come for me," I whispered, thrusting up into her wetness as Heather
rocked back and forth on my hips, her mouth open in a silent cry.  Suddenly
I felt her muscles clamp down on my finger and Heather's legs began to
spasm as an orgasm washed over through body.

   "Oh fuck," she moaned, collapsing against my chest.  I continued
frigging her clit until Heather pushed my hand away.  Her forehead was damp
against my chest as she recuperated on my chest.

   Slowly Heather came to, her eyes coming back to focus and losing the
glazed look she'd had.  With a grin she looked at the front of my pants and
I realized the bulge of my expected erection was poking Heather in the
thigh.

   "Is this for me?" she grinned.

   "Who else?"

   "Goody!" she laughed and before I knew what was happening Heather had
unzipped the front of my pants.  She tried to reach in to grasp at my cock,
but found the fit too tight and swiftly unbuckled my belt and unsnapped my
jeans.  "Much better," she said as she reached in to gently stroke my
prick.

   Her hand felt hot and as her fingers danced on the sensitive skin of my
erection and I groaned in frustration.  I knew the excitement of bringing a
beautiful girl to a quivering orgasm in my lap would have me on a very
short trigger and I fought to regain control.

   "I want to watch you spurt," Heather whispered, jerking my prick free
from the confines of my underwear.  She brought her hand between her own
thighs and when she returned to my prick her fingers were slippery with her
own juices.  She commenced jerking on my erection and I felt myself quickly
nearing my release.

   "Faster," I moaned as I felt the tightening in my testicles announcing
my imminent orgasm.  Heather sped her pace and to my surprise lowered her
other hand between my legs to cup my balls.

   Feeling her hand gently rolling my testicles in the palm of her hand, I
roared out the arrival of my release and with eyes pinched tightly shut I
felt my load spurt out the end of my cock.

   Heather kept pumping wildly, jerking my cock as I sprayed my seed all
over my legs and chest.

   "Enough," I panted as the sensations got too strong.  The front of my
shirt, damp and sticky from my sweat and ejaculation, seemed almost glued
to my chest.

   Slowly I got up as Heather leaned back against the wall, her legs
splayed obscenely wide and I could see the pink inner flesh of her pussy,
still damp and glistening with arousal.

   I staggered to the bathroom where I found a small towel.  I wiped my
face and neck and dabbed my semen as best I could.  After rinsing out the
towel I brought it to Heather and helped her clean up.  As my hand swabbed
the sticky swamp of her pussy Heather shuddered once more.  She grabbed my
wrist, holding my hand in place as a second, smaller orgasm shook her
abdomen.

   "Wow!" Heather finally managed as I helped her up.  The two of us stood
there, the smell of our recent activity still strong in the air.  The
silence was unnerving and I started to panic.  It was obvious that we had
both wanted and needed for this to happen, but I found myself unable to
come up with any words.  "Thank you," didn't seem like it would suffice.

   "Wow," I said, finally deciding to mimic Heather's exclamation.

   Heather stood there silently before bursting into a fit of giggles.

   "What's funny?" I asked.

   "Oh Dan, you are."

   "Why?"

   "Look at you!  You look like you're ready to bolt out of here as fast as
possible." She looked down at herself, the blouse no longer tucked into her
skirt, a tiny trail of her secretions coating her inner thighs.  "Don't you
want me anymore?" she pouted.

   "Of course I do, I just..."

   "What?"

   "I don't trust myself right now," I finally admitted.  "I actually do
have to leave pretty soon," I said, glancing at the clock.  "It's quite a
bit later than I'd planned to stay out.  It is a school night, you know," I
grinned.

   "What do you mean you don't trust yourself?" Heather asked in confusion.

   "I mean that if I don't leave right now, then I might never leave.  I
know I want to stay here, but I don't really know if I'm ready for that."

   "Good," Heather grinned.  "So you're not just using me and leaving me?"

   "Never," I growled, moving quickly to stand in front of her.  I grabbed
Heather around the waist and pulled her close for a kiss.

   "Mmm, I believe you," Heather said when we broke our embrace.  She
leaned up for another kiss but I quickly backed away, pressing my finger to
her lips.

   "I really do have to go," I apologized.  I laughed when I saw the look
of surprise on her face.  "Hey," I said in my defense.  "I'm just taking a
page out of your book."

   "What do you mean?"

   "Always leave 'em wanting more," I laughed.  "Consider this me... 
whetting your appetite." I bent and kissed her on the nose.

   "Jerk," Heather laughed as I moved to the door.  "You can't go now,
leaving me like this!  I'm still...  very hungry!"

   "Eat some lasagna," I called over my shoulder as the door slammed behind
me.  As I neared my car I realized we had forgotten something and quickly
pulled out my cell phone, knowing it had only been a minute or so.

   "What?" Heather asked when she picked up.

   "You forgot something," I said.  "You never fed me dessert."

   "Too bad," Heather laughed.  "You'll just have to get some next time."

   "Promise?" I asked.

   "Promise."

   Part Five

   Unfortunately Heather and I weren't able to get together any more before
Christmas break.  I had made plans months before to visit my parents, who
had moved from Nebraska to Illinois and since Heather was spending the
holidays with her family in South Dakota there would be no opportunity to
spend time together.

   My family has always been close although in recent years, most
noticeably since I started college, our time together has been limited. 
After the long drive across Iowa on Interstate 80, I was thrilled to be
able to relax in the comfort of their home.  It's true that it wasn't the
same as going home to "my" bedroom, but they had taken my old bed with them
when they moved, so it was close enough.

   Our family Christmas was much the same as it had been growing up, except
the charade of putting out cookies and milk for Santa Claus was no longer a
necessity, now that my sister and I no longer wore footed flannel pajamas.
Truth be told, I kind of missed the naive innocence of the whole event,
even if what I really missed was the year I was deemed old enough to "play"
Santa Claus and drink the milk and eat half the cookie.

   "How's life treating you?" my sister Natalie asked me one evening. 
Christmas had come and gone and the two of us were sitting around the
basement, watching one of the new DVDs she had received as presents, while
our parents were out with friends.

   "Good," I said.  "How about you?  You have a new boyfriend yet?"

   "As if!" she laughed.  I thought she sounded a bit nervous and raised an
eyebrow in question.  "What?" she asked.

   "Nothing," I replied quickly.  "You sounded a little weird there."

   "Oh, you know how it is," she sighed.  "Members of the opposite sex just
don't understand the two of us." One of the long-standing jokes the two of
us had shared had been born out of a shared failure in dating.  Neither of
us could ever understand why it seemed impossible for us to hold down long
romantic relationships and had joked that the two of us were simply
incompatible...  with everyone.

   "Actually that's not quite the truth anymore," I said, surprised to feel
embarrassed to admit it.  I realized that I hated the feeling of leaving my
sister on her own.

   "Dan, what do you mean?" Natalie asked, wide-eyed with amazement. 
"Don't tell me you found a girl!"

   "Yeah," I admitted.  "Sorry I didn't tell you before.  I wasn't sure how
you'd react."

   "What are you talking about?" she practically shouted, bouncing up and
down on the couch.  "I think that's great!"

   "Seriously?" I asked.  "I thought you'd be upset."

   "Upset?  Why would I be upset?"

   "I don't know.  Because we'd always joked about how the two of us were
fated to end up alone."

   "I didn't like the idea though!"

   "Me either."

   "That's so cool," Natalie enthused once more.  "Can I tell you a
secret?" she finally asked, grinning at me out of the corner of her mouth.

   "Sure.  What is it?"

   "I found someone too."

   "Really?  Why did you just say you hadn't?" I asked, grinning
idiotically at our shared nervousness.

   "Um...  I thought you'd be upset."

   "Why?"

   "Same reason as you.  Because we'd always joked about the whole thing."

   "Do I know this person?" I asked.

   "Um...  I'm not sure," Natalie answered.  "Maybe?  I'm not sure which of
my friends you would have seen when you were home from college.  Do you
know Chris?"

   "I think so, the name sounds familiar, but I don't know," I shrugged. 
"But I think it's cool when friends decide they love each other."

   "I'm sure you'd remember," she said.  "Tall, brown hair, really
athletic, plays basketball..."

   "Maybe," I shrugged.  "Sounds familiar, but I can't really put a face to
the name."

   "That's okay," Natalie answered.  "I'm sure the two of you will meet at
some point."

   "Come here," I said, pulling my sister in for a tight hug.  "I'm happy
for you," I said.  "I really am."

   "Me too."

   *****

   Most of my time at home was spent watching college football games on the
television.  Since my parents had moved here after I had graduated high
shcool, I really didn't know anyone, and although I had met a few of
Natalie's friends on those rare occasions when I'd visited, I wasn't
acquainted to them enough to really call them friends.

   So, while the rest of the family went out to celebrate New Year's Eve, I
decided I'd rather sit and watch the ball drop at home.  It would just be
me, Dick Clark, and however many hundreds of thousand people in Times
Square.

   "Are you sure?" my mother asked when I told her of my plans.

   "Yeah," I said.  "I don't really know any of your friends here in
Illinois, and Natalie's going to her party, so I'll just hang out here."

   "But you'll be bored!" my mom exclaimed.

   "I won't be," I promised.  "I kind of like hanging out.  Remember all
those 4th of July celebrations, where I hung out at home?"

   "Yes."

   "Well, I liked that.  Don't worry about me.  If I do get bored I'm sure
I can find something to keep me occupied."

   "I just hate the thought of you being all alone," my mom replied.

   "Nah, don't worry about that.  Besides," I chuckled.  "Consider me a
spy. I'll watch out and make sure Natalie and her boyfriend don't get into
trouble," I joked.

   "Natalie has a boyfriend?" my mom asked, her eyes showing complete
surprise.

   "Oh...  I thought...  what?" I asked.  Maybe I had misunderstood
Natalie, although I didn't think that was the case.  But maybe she'd meant
that she had found someone she liked, not that that someone liked her back.
I was pretty sure I was right, but now I was confused about it.  "Doesn't
she?"

   "Well, she certainly hasn't mentioned anyone," my mom said, shaking her
head.  "But don't worry, I'll have a talk with her."

   "Mom!"

   "Daniel, I won't say anything about you," she laughed.  "I've been a
mother for a long time, you know.  I can be sneaky if I want to."

   "Just as long as this doesn't come back to bite me," I said.  "Maybe it
was a secret."

   "Maybe," my mom agreed.  "Well, I still don't like leaving you here..."

   "Mom!  It's fine.  I'm twenty-four years old, okay?"

   "...  but it seems I have no choice.  So, have a good night, okay?  And
promise that you'll go out and have a good time if you feel like it."

   "Okay!"

   "Promise?"

   "I promise.  Love you," I said as she leaned to kiss me on the cheek. 
When my parents had finally left I took the chance to give Heather a call.
She seemed pleased to talk to me, but her parents were throwing a party and
she was busy, so the call was short.

   "I love you," I said as we said our goodbyes.  There was a pause and I
wondered if I'd overstepped some boundary.  It was the first time either of
us had spoken the words.

   "I love you too," she answered after the silence had become almost
unbearable.

   "So I'll see you when I get back, right?" I asked.

   "Duh!" she laughed.

   We made kissing noises at each other through he phone and hung up.

   It didn't take long before I realized my mother had been right. 
Watching the festivities on the television really wasn't the same as being
out in a crowd of people, and I decided to see what kind of community
parties might be going on.

   I took a quick shower and got ready to go out.  My parents had made it
clear that they'd be gone until late, so I left Natalie a note telling her
that I would probably not be back until one or two in the morning and took
off.

   As it turned out there wasn't much going on, and to my surprise I found
myself back home, watching Dick Clark, just as I'd planned.  I decided to
take advantage of the time zone difference and watch the big ball drop in
New York an hour earlier than in Illinois, and after that headed to bed at
just after eleven o'clock.

   I was still awake forty minutes or so later when I heard the front door
quietly open and close.  I heard two soft voices and assuming my parents
had come home early, began walking down the stairs to see how their evening
had gone.

   I had made it to the foot of the stairs when I realized that one of the
voices belonged to my sister and the other was one I didn't recognize. 
Curious, I tiptoed around the corner and peeked into the living room and
blushed in embarrassment.

   There on the couch was my sister, wearing a slinky black dress I'd never
seen before.  I say wearing, but in reality the shoulder straps were down
and the top of the dress pulled around her waist, baring her breasts to my
view.  Her date - I assumed this was Chris - seemed to be very attentive to
my sister's tits and judging my the passionate sounds my sister was making
the attention was appreciated.

   It took a moment before I realized the attractive legs poking out from
under the pale blue skirt belonged not to my sister, but to her date... 
another girl!  Was this Chris?  Or was it Christine?  Was my sister a
lesbian?  Had my mom known this, and was that why she was surprised when I
mentioned that Natalie had a boyfriend and not a girlfriend?

   My mind was fuzzy with questions as I quickly backed away from the
living room and moved as quietly as I could back to the room I was using. I
sat on the bed, unsure as to what I should do, before deciding to do
nothing.

   If this was something my sister was trying to keep quiet, why should I
be the one to upset her plans?  I tried to sleep but found myself unable to
get past the image of my sister and another girl making out.  It was
undoubtedly my imagination, but I thought I could hear the sounds of the
two girls moaning downstairs and I stayed awake long into the night.

   But had it really been two girls?  Couldn't I have been mistaken about
that?  I know how limbs become tangled when two people are wrapped together
making out.  What if Natalie had been wearing a black top and a blue skirt?
At one point, more to convince myself I'd been wrong I tiptoed back down
the stairs.  I didn't stay long, but a quick glance at the four naked
breasts and my sister's face buried in the other girl's pussy was more than
enough to tell me I'd been right.

   As I crept back to my room I happened to look into Natalie's room and
saw her high school annual lying on her desk.  Careful to notice exactly
how it was sitting I picked it up and flipped through it until I came to
the sports section.  I peered at the picture of the basketball team, but
there wasn't anyone named Chris.

   My heart pounding in my chest I turned to the women's team pages.  It
didn't take very long before I saw someone I recognized.  Her hair was
longer than in the picture, but I had no doubt it was her.

   Christina Simon was her name.  She was a forward on the basketball team.
She was my sister's lover.

   *****

   When I finally made it back to Omaha after Christmas break, I was still
unsure about what, if anything, I was going to do about my sister.  I had
tried to act normal around her the rest of my stay, and I don't think she
noticed, but there had never been any real opportunity to have a private
discussion.

   I tried to put it out of my mind.  I was really none of my business, I
knew that, and I had no intentions of betraying her secret.  Besides, it
had been nearly three weeks since I had seen Heather and I was anxious to
see her.  Based on the numerous phone calls we had shared during the break
I didn't doubt that she was as excited to see me as I was to see her, but
for some reason I was still jittery.

   I arrived back to my apartment late on a Monday night and spent most of
the next day unpacking and straightening up after myself.  When I realized
what day it was I decided to take a break and put on my coat.  Time to head
to Pablo's of course.  What else are Tuesday evenings for?

   "Hey good looking." I had managed to walk into Pablo's undetected and
had snuck up on Heather as she stood at the bar.  Because of the holidays
the room was nearly empty and as I stepped behind her I ran the palm of my
hand over the smooth curve of her ass.

   "What?" Heather said, whipping around and nearly clubbing me with the
tall glass she was holding.

   "Hi," I grinned sheepishly as Heather's look of surprise turned to one
of elation.  She set her glass back on the bar and nearly threw herself at
me.  Her arms flew around my neck as we pulled in close for a searing kiss.
Her fingers played with my hair as our tongues jousted against each other.
Through the thin material of Heather's black skirt I could feel the heat
emanating from her pussy as our crotches ground together.

   "Kind of slow?" I teased, as we finally pulled apart.

   "It had been," she laughed, reaching up to straighten a stray strand of
curly hair.

   "What time to you get off?" I asked.

   "Not soon enough," she answered.  It took a moment of my laughing for
Heather to understand what she had said.  When she realized the humor she
immediately put on a severe face.

   "What?" I laughed.

   "You're mocking me," she huffed.

   "I am not."

   "Then prove it," she said, her face beginning to crack into the smile I
loved to look at.

   I leaned my head down so my lips just brushed her earlobe and whispered
softly.

   "As soon as you're done working, I'd be more than happy to help you get
off," I said.  Heather looked at me, her eyes wide as she realized what I
was saying.  The two of us had not talked about upping the physical part of
our relationship, but judging from our ease with each other - not to
mention how close we had come during our last dinner date before Christmas
- it seemed obvious our thinking was very much in agreement.

   "You've got a deal," she said with a grin.  We stared into each other's
eyes for a moment before the jingling of the bell on the front door
announced the entry of another bar patron.

   "You have a job, missy," I said, finally turning away from Heather's
smoldering gaze.

   "I do, don't I?" she sighed.  "Wait right here," she said.  "I'm done in
an hour."

   "Mmm...  and then it's time for you to get off for real," I teased.

   "I'm going to hold you to that, buster," she laughed.

   "I hope so," I said quietly.  "I hope so."

   The next hour was one of the longest of my life, made more so by the
always hovering presence of Michelle.  Each time Heather would pass by she
would shoot her coworker a dirty look, but Michelle seemed oblivious as
always.

   "What is it with her?" Heather hissed as she walked near my barstool.

   "She keeps hitting on me," I admittedly nervously.  "Keeps telling me
that I should be with a real woman."

   "What!?!"

   "Don't worry," I said.  "I told her there was only one of those in the
bar tonight and she was going home with me."

   "Damn right she is," Heather laughed.

   *****

   Eventually, Heather's shift was up and the two of us walked out into the
cold January air.

   "Are you okay?" I asked as I noticed Heather grimacing as she put on her
stocking cap.  "You're walking a little funny.  Did you hurt yourself?"

   "I don't know," she groaned.  "I pulled something the other night at
home and I haven't felt good since then."

   "But you were still at the bar tonight?"

   "Yeah, but they need me there," Heather answered.

   "You work too hard," I told her.  "Why don't you just take a few nights
off?  I'm sure there will be plenty of people just dying to buy your
flowers when you get back."

   "I suppose I should," Heather admitted.  "It's just that I need the
money and I hate the idea of that bitch Michelle stealing any of my
regulars." She looked up and me with a grin.  "She can't have you.  Ever."

   "Of course not," I said, trying to act mildly offended by the mere
suggestion.  "I'm shocked you would even imply I might be susceptible to
her wiles," I grinned.

   "Oh no?" Heather laughed.  "Come on, you're just a guy."

   "True, but...  a tramp like her?  Never."

   "Yeah, Michelle is kind of slutty," Heather grinned.

   "Nasty," I agreed.

   "A complete bimbo," Heather laughed, apparently over her disappointment
as we reached my apartment

   I unlocked the door and let us in, Heather sighing with relief as the
warm air rushed over us.  She immediately sat down on the couch and I
caught a look of pain briefly flash over her features and she rolled her
shoulders, trying to loosen her tight muscles.

   "Your back still hurt?" I asked as she grimaced.

   "Yeah.  A little.  It isn't so much painful as it is really
uncomfortable."

   "I could always give you a massage," I offered.

   "Really?" Heather asked skeptically.

   "Sure," I answered.  "My mom was a waitress and that was horrible for
her back, so I had a lot of practice.  It was a few years ago, but I'm sure
it's just like riding a bike."

   "Let's do it," Heather agreed after a moment's thought.  "What should I
do?"

   "Why don't you undress for me," I said, smiling gently to let her know
it was okay.  "You can cover up if you want.  Just meet me in my bedroom
and we can do the massage in there.  I'm sure it's a lot more comfortable
than lying on the living room carpet.  I'll be just a second.  I'm going to
get some baby oil from the bathroom."

   "Why do you have baby oil?" Heather asked.  I blushed, thinking of the
lonely nights I'd spent masturbating, my fist sliding up and down my slick,
lubricated shaft.

   "I don't know," I stammered finally.  "I've just always had it."

   Heather nodded and as she started tugging her shirt from out of her
pants I moved to retrieve the oil from my bathroom.  I grabbed a change of
clothing along the way and hurriedly changed into a t-shirt and pair of
shorts for comfort.

   When I arrived back at my bedroom I paused in the doorway, taking in the
breathtaking beauty in front of me.  Heather was completely naked and had
decided not to cover herself as she lay comfortably on my bed.  She was
lying on her stomach and I could see just a hint of her pink inner flesh
through the curls of her pubic hair as I quickly glanced between the firm
globes of her ass.

   "I'm here," I said, sounding more confident to my own ears than I felt.
My penis was stiffening in anticipation as I knelt beside Heather's naked
form.  I put the baby oil on the night stand as I arranged a towel for
myself, not wanting to subject my sheets to the warm oil, although I should
have known it was pointless.  Feeling my erection beginning to tent out the
front of my shorts I looked at Heather, relieved to see her eyes were still
very much closed.

   I grabbed the bottle of baby oil, uncapping it and pouring a bit of the
slippery liquid into my cupped hand.  I rubbed my hands together to warm
the oil before allowing it to drizzle onto Heather's smooth back.  She
jumped a bit at the contact but quickly relaxed as the liquid spread over
her warm skin.

   Gently I began rubbing the lightly scented baby oil over the tense
muscles in Heather's back, hearing a soft sigh of pleasure as my fingers
worked to bring her relief.  Heather had piled her hair beside her on the
pillow and there was now nothing in my way as I softly kneaded her flesh.

   "Relax," I whispered, my lips brushing against the soft skin of her
neck. I felt Heather shiver underneath my fingers at my breath blew through
the wispy hair.

   I continued rubbing, my hands moving up and down her spine.  I teased
each rib with my fingers, sliding my fingers down far enough to feel the
taut muscles of each firm ass cheek.

   "Harder," Heather mumbled.  I looked down and saw her eyes were still
closed as she enjoyed the relaxing contact.  Wanting to get more leverage I
straddled her hips, feeling the bulge of my now fully-erect cock settle
into the crevice of her ass as I continued attending to Heather's tired
muscles.

   Hesitantly I slipped down the sides of her body, teasing over the soft,
pale skin of her breasts.  This motion caused my erection to press more
firmly against her soft flesh, and I felt the vibrations all the way up and
down my shaft as Heather trembled beneath me.  Even through the material of
my shorts the heat of her pussy threatened to burn me.

   To my amazement Heather reached back and blindly tugged at the waistband
of my shorts, her fingers brushing over the lump from my erection.  I
gasped in surprise as she squeezed my shaft.

   "Take 'em off," she mumbled quietly.  "I want to feel it."

   "Are you sure?" I asked as her fingers pulled lightly.  She simply
nodded her head and continued trying to undo the button.  "Here, let me," I
finally said as I stood, shedding my shorts and underwear.

   I knelt back as I had been and my now freed cock slipped between
Heather's slightly parted thighs.  The tip of my engorged prick bumped
against the soft opening to her pussy and we both gasped at the contact.

   Heather was already wet and anxious as she started pressing up against
me, but I pulled away, breaking all contact between us.  I smiled as
Heather gave a small whimper of disapproval.

   I spread her legs a bit more widely and saw that I was right in my
estimation of her arousal.  Her pubic area was damp, both from her own
natural lubricant and from the baby oil that had dribbled down the warm
crevice between her ass cheeks.

   I grabbed the baby oil and squirted out some more, again warming it
before attending to each of her legs.  As I stroked at the firm muscles I
felt her now slippery flesh slowly relax beneath my fingers.

   I brushed over the bottoms of Heather's feet, smiling as she giggled
softly at the contact.  She was very relaxed now and as I spread her legs
further apart, I remembered she had said the flower girls pushed their
petals.  At the moment the soft petals of her labia separated before my
eyes.  Her inner lips were sticky with arousal and clung together
momentarily before also pulling apart.

   It was obvious by the slickness and heat that Heather wanted more, but I
felt I had a duty to completely relax her, and knew my job was not yet
finished.

   "Turn over," I directed softly.  Heather lay motionless for a moment,
breathing deeply before slowly turning.  My cock twitched as for the first
time I saw her naked body in all its glory.

   Heather's nipples were firm little bullets of hard flesh and I could see
a flush forming on her chest as her arousal spread.  Heather looked up at
me momentarily, her eyes lazy and sleepy, glazed over with her growing
passion.  They closed softly as I again moved my hands over her flesh.

   My fingers were still slippery from the baby oil and I began teasing the
soft skin of her abdomen, pressing lightly against the pale skin of her
tummy.

   Heather's breath caught in her throat as my fingers brushed against the
top of her pubic mound and her legs spread a bit wider, subconsciously
bidding me lower.  I had to fight the urge to slip a finger into her liquid
heat but refrained, knowing our time together was not yet finished.

   As I moved my hands up her torso I again teased my fingers over her
sides, lightly trailing my fingertips over the firm jut of her breasts. 
Heather pressed herself up into my hands, wanting to feel my palms cupping
her nipples but I again pulled away, eliciting another moan as I ignored
her where she most wanted to be touched.

   My hands glided lightly over the top of Heather's chest, caressing her
collarbone before moving down her arms.  I could feel the muscles loosen as
I passed, the stress evaporating under my touch.

   Her hands were next and I spent my time pressing into her palms,
pinching at the tense muscles there, cramped and painful.  Heather cried
out as I squeezed roughly between her thumb and index finger before sighing
with approval as the tension dissipated.

   Shifting my hips, I straddled her left leg, feeling Heather's thigh
muscles twitch beneath me as I stroked my fingers ever closer to her pussy.
She spread her legs, repositioning herself under my body.  As she invited
me in a small smile played over her lips.

   I saw the smile but failed to attach any significance to it, until I
nearly jumped in shock as Heather's toes brushed against my balls.  Her
right foot slid up and down the length of my erection and once again I had
to fight the urge to simply bury myself in her pussy.

   I wanted it and now I knew Heather did too.  It would be a simple thing
to spread her legs.  She was already ready and more than wet enough, but I
wanted this to be for her.

   I reached out my, enjoying the smooth skin as I finally cupped the
spongy flesh of her breasts.  As I teased and pulled at her erect nipples
Heather sighed in pleasure beneath me.  I could feel her hips rolling
against the cushions beneath her body and finally as she whimpered in
frustration I could tell she'd had enough waiting.

   "Spread your legs for me," I whispered.  Her eyes shot open and I smiled
as her legs immediately parted at my request.  Heather bent her knees and I
found myself entranced by the sight of her pink inner flesh, the nub of her
clit already poking up from its fleshy hood.  She was breathing heavily now
as she anticipated my stiff cock penetrating her moist flesh.

   The scent of her arousal was musky and thick in the air of my apartment.
Her scent was almost intoxicating, a heady mix of spice and pheromones and
I quickly dropped my head to the hot flesh Heather was offering me.

   "Oh God...  Daniel!" she squealed as my tongue snaked out of my mouth.
It only took one quick swipe along the wet furrow of her slit before she
began convulsing beneath me.  Heather gasped loudly at the unexpected
stimulation as my fingers brushed over the pucker of her anus and I reveled
in the sweetness of the juices her pussy released onto my tongue.

   Heather thrust her hips against me as I buried my tongue in her sticky
depths.  I licked and kissed over the tender pink flesh, introducing first
one, then two fingers inside her steaming cunt.  I searched for the rough
patch of flesh inside Heather's pussy, grinning as she squealed in pleasure
as I rubbed across her most sensitive spot.

   Heather's mouth was now open wide, her breathing coming in great heaving
gasps as I continued plunging my fingers into her pussy.  Her own hands
were not idle, as she skimmed her fingers over the turgid pink tips of her
breasts, finally capturing a nipple in each hand.

   I watched, my fingers still thrusting lightly into Heather's squirming
tunnel as her fingers pulled roughly on her breasts.  I smiled as she
hissed in pleasure before dropping my lips once again to her neatly shaven
quim to play my tongue along the smooth outer flesh of her wet cunt.

   Suddenly a torrent of juices flowed from her opening and Heather's legs
tightened around my body.  Her limbs began quivering as an orgasm rushed
through her body.  I held her hips tightly as wave after wave of pleasure
crashed through Heather's body until at last she collapsed, limp and
utterly relaxed.

   As her breathing began returning to normal I moved up her body, kissing
my way from her hipbone to just past her dimpled navel.  Continuing on I
sucked gently on each of Heather's tender nipples before brushing my lips
against her swollen mouth.

   Heather's arms circled my neck, pulling me close as our tongues slipped
from our mouths, dueling against each other, slippery and wet.

   As I pressed my body against Heather's flesh, now damp with our combined
perspiration, the tip of my erection brushed firmly against the wet flesh
of her pussy and we both groaned at the contact.  Heather smiled up at me
as her hands dipped down between our bodies to stroke and pull at my
erection.

   "Oh God...  yes!  Right there," she hissed as my prick pushed between
the fat outer lips of her pussy.  Her snug inner tunnel, twice as hot and
slippery as her outer flesh, clamped down on my cock and for a moment I
felt as if I'd been enveloped in a soft wet satin glove.

   My thrusts began slowly, my movements quickly speeding up as I plunged
time and again into her moist depths.  Heather's legs wrap around my hips,
pulling me deep inside her.  Her breasts pressed hotly against my chest,
our slippery flesh sliding delightfully against each other as her ankles
lock behind my hips.

   I experienced another of Heather's climaxes as she shuddered beneath me.
I felt as the slippery muscles of her cunt began to spasm wildly, trapping
me inside her wetness.  Her mouth searched for my own, threatening to suck
me in as our tongues thrashed against each other.

   Suddenly the heat and wetness are too much and quickly, too quickly I am
there.  My cock flexed inside the sheath of Heather's wetness and I felt
the cum boil out of my balls, rushing through my shaft to coat the inside
of her tunnel.

   "Oh shit," I gasped as the first burst flooded the inside of Heather's
pussy.  She panted along with me, pulling me close and holding me tightly
as my orgasm rocketed through my cock.

   Eventually my climax passed and I rolled over, still buried inside her
depths.  Heather collapsed against my chest, her nipples digging into my
flesh as we slowly came down from our sexual peaks.

   "Better?" I asked as I rubbed my hands over Heather's back.  I teased my
fingers over the globes of her ass, one fingertip pressing against the
crinkled pucker of her anus.  I felt her shudder as my softening prick
slipped from her pussy but Heather didn't say anything, only breathing
lightly into my chest as she lay there on my bed, content and relaxed for
the moment.

   "Much better," she mumbled as she slowly drifted off to sleep.  "I love
you," she sighed, and I felt her relax almost completely.

   "Love you too," I whispered, slowly stroking her back and sides with my
fingers, careful not to rouse her from her sleep.

   When Heather's slow, regular breathing signaled she had indeed slipped
into unconsciousness, I carefully rolled onto my side, allowing Heather to
land softly on her back.  Her arm reached out for me in her sleep and I
gladly allowed myself to be wrapped up in her embrace.

   I looked at the blinking digits of my alarm clock, groaning softly with
the realization that I needed to be up in less than five hours.  I realized
I was unsure of Heather's schedule and set the alarm even earlier than I
normally would.  Eventually I too felt myself fading away and snuggled
closer to Heather's warmth, my face buried in her hair.  Somehow I knew
that no matter how short my rest, my dreams would be filled with thoughts
of her.

   *****

   "Dan, wake up."

   "Huh?"

   "Wake up!"

   "What time is it?"

   "It's early, but..."

   "Then go back to bed." I still hadn't opened my eyes, wanting to ignore
this latest intrusion into my sleep.  My rest had been unsatisfying at
best, filled with the restlessness and unease borne of having not shared my
bed in some time.

   "Dan, wake up!"

   "What?" I opened my eyes, more fully awake now.  "What is it?" I asked
when I saw Heather's face peering intently at me.

   "It's snowing."

   "So?"

   "It snowed a lot."

   "And?"

   "And it's freezing outside.  I just heard on the radio that the governor
canceled school."

   "That's not for us," I said, chuckling softly.  "The governor only calls
of public schools, not colleges and universities."

   "Nope," Heather said with a grin.  "All of 'em."

   "Seriously?"

   "Seriously," Heather said, her tone mocking my disbelief.  "I told you,
it's freezing out there, and it's windy too.  I guess the snow is really
drifting in the country, so we get a snow day."

   "Cool," I finally said.

   "It is cool," Heather giggled.  I turned my head to look at her.  Even
after a fitful slumber, and I'm not sure Heather had slept any better than
I had, she was beautiful.

   "So why wake me up?" I asked.

   "I wanted to let you know you could stay in bed," Heather giggled once
more.

   "What?  Then why wake me up?  Just let me keep sleeping," I said with a
bit of exasperation.

   "Who said you could sleep?" Heather asked.

   "You just did," I blurted.  "You said school got called off, so..."

   "So you can stay in bed," Heather agreed, throwing one naked thigh over
my hips.  I felt the crinkly hairs of her pubic mat brushing against my
leg. "I never said you could sleep."

   "Ah," I said, finally understanding.  "I think I get it now."

   "You do?" Heather laughed.  "It's about time."

   "And I apologize for the confusion," I continued.  "Let me see if I can
make it up to you then."

   "How would you do that?" Heather asked, groaning as I squeezed the
smooth flesh of her buttocks.

   "I'm sure I'll think of something," I replied.  Her pussy was warm
against my rapidly rising cock as she squirmed to gain a more comfortable
position in my lap.  Her hand reached between our bodies to grasp my
erection as she lifted herself up, positioning the head of my prick at the
opening of her pussy.  We both groaned with the sensations as she slowly
dropped down onto my cock, burying my shaft in her warmth in one smooth
stroke.

   "Mmm," she sighed as we began to slowly make love.  "I do like your
ideas."

   Part Six

   The next few weeks flew by in a rush.  The second semester of school got
going for me, and much as I tried, my class and work schedule never seemed
to mesh with Heather's schedule at the bar.  We spent as much time as
possible, and I found myself falling for this girl, harder than I'd ever
fallen for anyone in my life, but it was just frustrating not being able to
spend more time with her.  All I wanted to do was be close to Heather, but
fate seemed to keep pushing us apart.

   Then, a week or so before spring break, as I was sitting down to eat
dinner, I heard a knocking at my sliding patio door.  I grinned, knowing
Heather was the only person who used my patio door, and hurried to let her
in.  Little did I realize that one set of my frustrations would soon be
solved, while another would quickly line up to take its place.

   "Hey," I grinned, seeing Heather waiting on my patio, cold and shivering
in the frigid air of a cold Omaha winter day.

   "Hi," she said quietly, and it was then that I noticed what Heather had
brought with her.

   "Moving in or something?" I joked, seeing a large suitcase at Heather's
feet.

   "Can I?" she asked, and I realized something serious was going on.  I
backed up to allow Heather to enter the apartment, helping with the
suitcase after watching her struggle with it for a moment.

   "What's wrong?" I asked as I closed the glass door, which quickly
frosted over.  I turned and saw that Heather had collapsed onto my couch,
her coat thrown haphazardly on the floor in front of her.  She sat there
limply, her head resting in her palms and I could see her shoulders
shaking. "Honey," I said, a bit more loudly.  "What's wrong?"

   "I have nowhere to go," she finally sobbed, after a long moment of
silence.

   "What?" I asked in shock.  "What happened?  You got kicked out of your
place?" I was beyond amazement, for Heather had never seemed the type to
cause any sort of trouble.

   "I was at work and that bitch gave a customer a blowjob and Billy found
out and told the owner and we all got fired and I have no money and my rent
was due and I went home from class and found a note on my door that if I
don't pay I have to leave and...  and..."

   "Slow down," I said quietly.  "Take a breath.  Relax."

   "I don't know what to do," Heather gasped softly, her breathing ragged
as she tried to calm herself.

   "Michelle got you all fired?" I asked quietly.  Heather's face got dark
with anger before she finally shook her head sharply.

   "That bitch," she hissed.  "I knew she'd get found out eventually, and I
was happy when she did, but then we all...  we all got the axe."

   "That's so unfair!" I exclaimed.  "How can they do that?"

   "I don't know," she answered, shaking her head slowly.  "Something about
not being able to trust any of us after what had happened."

   "Are they hiring replacements?" I asked, beginning to think Heather
might have some legal grounds to fight for her job.  After all, she hadn't
done anything wrong and certainly didn't deserve to be fired.

   "No," she said.  "No more flower girls at Pablo's."

   "Shit," I swore quietly.  "How can I help?"

   "Can I stay on your couch?" she asked.  "I packed up all my stuff.  I
don't have much, but I brought a couple suitcases of clothes and packed up
most of my other stuff.  I can just sleep on the couch.  I promise I'll
find another job really soon and I'll help with the rent.  Just please give
me a little bit of time," she pleaded.

   "No, don't worry about it," I said, reaching my arm around her shoulders
to comfort her.  She looked up at me in confusion momentarily before I
continued speaking.  "I mean, get a job by all means, but don't worry about
paying any of the rent."

   "But..."

   "No, seriously.  It's not going to cost me any extra having you here
than it did before."

   "What about other stuff?"

   "What other stuff?" I asked.

   "Food?"

   "I've got plenty."

   "But I want to help!" she cried out.  "I don't want to owe you or feel
obligated like this!"

   "Heather," I said, taking her face in my hands and looking at her
seriously.  "I want to help.  Let me help, okay?  I love you, you know."

   At that Heather's eyes grew wide.  I had been skirting around the issue
of my feelings for her, but now seemed the perfect time to tell her exactly
how I felt.  I would have preferred a more romantic setting, but this felt
right.

   "You do?" she said in a tiny voice.  I leaned forward and pressed my
lips firmly against hers for a moment, before pulling back to once again
look into her eyes.

   "I do," I answered seriously.  "I really do love you."

   "Thank you," she said, her sad look dissipated some as a smile played at
the corners of her mouth.  "I love you too."

   "Then no more talk about feeling obligated, okay?  I want to help.  Let
me."

   "Okay," she said.  "Thank you." Her voice was almost a whisper as she
pulled me close for a hug.

   We sat there on the couch for a while, just enjoying the closeness. 
Eventually the lateness of the hour and the smell of a now cooling pizza
caused my stomach to growl.  Heather looked up in surprise before realizing
what it was.

   "Want something to eat?" I laughed.  "I know I do."

   Heather nodded silently and the two of us helped pull each other off the
couch.  We held hands as we walked into the kitchen to sit down for a meal
of cold pizza.

   "Just like living in the dorms," I joked.  "Cold pizza in the middle of
the night."

   Heather paused, a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth.

   "I just want to thank you again," she stammered.  "It really means a lot
to me and I don't know how I can ever..."

   "Relax.  Take a bite.  I'm sure I'll find some way to put you to good
use around here."

   "What do you mean?" Heather asked suspiciously.

   "Oh, there's tons of stuff you can do."

   "Like what?  Were you thinking sexual favors?" she asked, a glint
forming in her eye.

   "Of course," I laughed.  "That and other stuff.  Fold my shirts, make my
bed, cook my food, iron my underwear..."

   "Your underwear?" she laughed.

   "I'm just joking.  Make yourself at home.  I mean it."

   "Thanks," she said again, nodding her head softly.

   "It's no trouble.  Really.  This could be fun."

   "Fun?" she asked skeptically.

   "Trust me," I said, taking a large bite of food.  "I know what I'm
talking about."

   After dinner was finished Heather wanted to get her things situated, so
the two of us braved the cold and ran out to her car.  As she had said, she
had one more suitcase in the trunk, along with a couple boxes of books and
personal effects.

   "This is it?" I said, kind of amazed that anyone could have lived as
long as Heather and not accumulated more.  "Where's all the...  where's all
the junk?"

   "Junk?" she laughed.

   "I didn't mean it like that, but don't you have anything else?" It
occurred to me that the only time I had been inside her apartment was when
we ate dinner.  I had certainly picked her up there at the beginning of a
date, but the one time I had actually been inside I thought there had been
more stuff.

   "Oh," she nodded.  "Gotcha.  No, I have a lot more...  junk, if you want
to call it that," she teased.  "But it's pretty much all packed away in
storage.  This is just the stuff I'll need right now.  Clothes, school
books, things like that."

   After the two of us lugged her belongings into the apartment, there was
a bit of an awkward moment when, without thinking, I carried her suitcase
into my bedroom.

   "What are you doing?" she asked, a curious expression on her face.

   "I was just...  oh, sorry," I stammered.  "I didn't mean to imply
that... I didn't think you would be..." I tailed off, not wanting to dig
myself a hole larger than the one I was already in.  Truth be told, I had
assumed the two of us would be sleeping together, regardless of the fact
that she had requested the couch.

   "You didn't think what?" she asked sweetly while I collapsed back onto
the bed.  "You didn't assume that I'd just jump into bed with you?  That I
would allow you to take advantage of me in my weakened state?"

   "I...  I'm sorry?" I groaned.  Heather stood there a moment, glaring at
me and I wondered if anything we might have had was now ruined.  Suddenly
her face broke into a smile.

   "Gotcha!" she laughed, jumping in my lap and smothering my face with
kisses.  She ground her hips against mine and I knew I was no longer
blushing with embarrassment, as the blood in my cheeks seemed to have
rushed to a point roughly six inches below my belt.

   "You're such a tease," I laughed, kissing her lightly on the nose. 
Heather grinned at me, squirming happily in my lap as we made out on the
edge of the bed.

   Suddenly I twisted around so that I was on top of her, my hips
positioned between Heather's widespread thighs.  I reached down to stroke
the firm muscles of her legs and ass through her blue jeans, feeling the
skin ripple as Heather's buttocks clenched and relaxed under my touch.  As
I reached to undo the buckle of her belt I smiled down at her.

   "See?" I said.  "I told you this would be fun!"

   *****

   The two of us soon settled into a fairly routine domestic situation.  I
attended classes in the day while Heather hunted for jobs, quickly finding
a position as day hostess in one of the more exclusive private clubs in
Omaha.

   "What's it like in there?" I asked one night as we snuggled together on
the couch, watching some inane reality show on television.Even after
Heather had found a job, somehow the option of her moving out had never
come up.

   "It is so great!" Heather exclaimed happily.  "A lot of...  interesting
stuff goes on there, but for the most part the job is easy and the patrons
tip really well.  It doesn't really get busy until it's about time for me
to leave...  it's perfect!"

   "When you say that 'interesting stuff goes on there,' what are you
talking about exactly?" I asked, my curiosity aroused.  "I've heard rumors
of some wild happenings there...  is that what you mean?"

   "I can't talk about anything specific," Heather said vaguely.

   "Some kind of funky hostess/client privilege?" I joked.

   "Something like that," Heather answered.

   "Really?" I laughed.  "I was joking."

   "Seriously," she answered, nodding vigorously.  "I had to sign a
confidentiality agreement before I started working there."

   "Why?"

   "The club doesn't really want any details of what happens there going
public," she said.

   "Ah...  so what happens in the club stays in the club?" I joked.

   "You got it," she laughed.

   "So...  I know you can't tell me anything specific," I said slowly. 
"But, for curiosity's sake...  would this be the kind of place Michelle
would fit in?" I asked, remembering the rumors of prostitutes and orgies
I'd heard whispered.  I'd always assumed they were at least partially
bullshit, but imagined there was at least a grain of truth to them.

   "Possibly," Heather grinned.  "Let's just say that I think if Michelle
was there she would have a lot to learn."

   "Are you learning things too?" I asked, regretting the question as soon
as I asked it.  I hadn't meant to imply that Heather herself was involved
as anything other than an observer, but judging by her expression that's
exactly how she took it.

   "What do you mean by that?" Heather spat out harshly.

   "Nothing," I said, raising my hands in surrender.  "I didn't mean to
imply you were...  involved in anything...  just wondered if you'd seen
anything you liked."

   "Oh," she said, her face softening a bit.  "Well...  yeah, I have."

   "What kind of things?" I asked.  "In general...  nothing specific."

   "Well," she said slowly.  "Nothing is really off-limits there, so it
gets pretty crazy there, although during the day it's pretty slow.  But
I've subbed for an evening shift a couple times and it gets crazy."

   "Crazy...  how?"

   "You've seen the cut scene from "Eyes Wide Shut," right?" she asked.  I
nodded, remembering the time we had downloaded the uncensored footage off
the Internet.

   "You mean there are people...  just fucking out in the open while others
watch?" I asked, slightly amazed and wondering if Heather was once again
teasing me.  "Seriously?"

   "Yeah," she admitted.  "But you can't tell anyone!" she warned.

   "Wow," I said.  "Sounds kind of kinky."

   "A little bit," Heather said.  "But hey...  it's actually a good work
environment, the pay is great, and I don't think you've complained about
the extra money."

   "The money was never an issue," I reminded her.  "It's enough just
having you around, and I think it's great this isn't the kind of job you
have take home with you every night."

   "What do you mean by that?" Heather asked.

   "I mean...  when you were working at Pablo's, you were constantly
concerned about how things had gone at work, you were always worrying about
Michelle...  it was like even when you weren't working you were thinking
about work."

   "Ah," she smiled.  "I thought you were thinking..."

   "What?" I laughed as she trailed off.  "You thought I was thinking
what?"

   "When you mentioned bringing my work home with me I thought...  I
thought of a couple things I could do.  Like I said...  I am learning quite
a bit."

   "What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused.

   "You'll see," Heather said, enjoying my discomfort.  "I think I can
teach you."

   "Teach me?" I asked.

   "Mmm hmm...  " she answered.  "I mean, you really shouldn't be asking
these kinds of questions," she said.  "That's kind of naughty of you, you
know...  trying to pry information out of me like that."

   "I'm sorry," I said quickly.  "You don't need to tell me anything, but
you know I won't tell anyone else."

   "I know you wouldn't, at least not on purpose," she said.  "But even
so...  I think maybe you need to be punished."

   "Punished?" I asked.  "Punished...  how?"

   "You'll see," Heather answered.  "I need to talk to Stacey from work...
see if I can borrow some of her stuff."

   "What kind of stuff?" I asked nervously.  "Who's Stacey?"

   "She's one of the women who sometimes works at the club.  She's a little
bit older I guess...  maybe forty or so, but she's still just amazing to
look at...  you wouldn't know her real age unless she told you.  I think
she even has a daughter our age!  She doesn't work there on a regular
shift, so I don't really know her all that well.  The club brings in on...
on initiation nights," Heather said, and as hard as I tried, she would say
no more about the subject.

   *****

   Nothing more was mentioned of our conversation for quite a while.  Real
life reared its ugly head as it often does, and Heather and I were
separated for a couple weeks while the college's graduate choir toured
during a late spring break.

   I returned home to my apartment at the end of the tour physically
exhausted.  We had traveled from Omaha to Kansas City to St.  Louis to
Chicago to Milwaukee to Minneapolis, and then the Dakotas and finally back
down into Nebraska after a short stop in Iowa.  We had managed to perform
nine different concerts during the eleven days we were gone, and the long
hours spent on the bus had gotten to me.

   "You're home!" Heather exclaimed when she heard the door to the
apartment open.  She ran out of the bedroom dressed in her pajamas, as it
was late when we had returned to campus.  Heather appeared ready to jump
into my arms until she saw the haggard look on my face.

   "Hey," I said quietly, wanting nothing more at that moment than to
collapse into my bed and sleep for the next thirty hours.

   "You look tired," Heather grimaced, thankfully wrapping me in a warm hug
instead of pouncing on my tired bones.  She led me back to the bedroom
where it appeared she had been quietly reading a book when I arrived and
gently pushed me back onto the bed.

   "What are you doing?" I asked as she knelt down at my feet.  "I don't
think I'm really up to anything tonight..." I started, mistaking her
intentions as sexual in nature.

   "I know," she grinned and bent down to begin untying my shoelaces, much
to my surprise.  "Relax, okay?" she asked.  "You need to get some sleep. 
What did you do on tour?" she asked.  "Didn't they let you get any rest at
all?"

   "It was great," I admitted.  "Great, but really tiring.  You're right...
I'm exhausted.  Too many miles, too many concerts, not enough down time. 
What are you doing?" I asked, as Heather reached for my belt.

   "Silly," she grinned.  "I'm undressing you so I can get in bed with you.
I've missed you."

   "I've missed you too," I said, reaching out to stroke her auburn hair.
"I've missed you a lot, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm
exhausted.  See?" I said as I felt her hand brush over the front of my
boxers.  "Nothing happening tonight."

   "That's fine," she grinned, tugging my slacks down around my ankles and
finally off.  "April is coming up, and you know how wet and messy it gets
when it rains.  I'm sure we'll have plenty of time, and can find plenty of
things to do inside."

   "Thanks," I said gratefully.  I had managed to remove my sweater and
shirt and was dressed only in my underwear.  I allowed myself to fall back
onto the bed, sighing with contentment as my head hit the pillow.  Heather
tossed my clothes onto a chair and snuggled up next to me, curling her body
up against me, the soft flesh of her buttocks pressed firmly against my
crotch.

   "Still nothing?" she giggled, wiggling her hips against my still flaccid
penis.

   "Nothing," I said.  "Quit trying to be a bad girl," I teased.  "There'll
be more than enough time for your games."

   "I'm not bad," she mock pouted.  "In fact, I've been very good while you
were gone.  I even got a promotion at work."

   "Really?" I said, truly impressed.  "You've only been there a month and
a half!  Who'd you have to sleep with to get that promotion?" I asked in
jest.

   "You rat!" she exclaimed.  "I told you before, what happens in the club
stays in the club.  Now who's being bad?"

   "I am, I guess."

   "Darn right you are," Heather giggled.  "And you know what happens to
bad boys, don't you?"

   "Um...  they need to be punished?" I answered, wondering where this was
going.

   "That's right.  They need to be punished."

   "And who's going to punish me?" I asked.  "You?"

   "I am...  I am going to punish you.  Remember Stacey?  The girl from
work I was telling you about?  We had a little chat, and she loaned me some
stuff."

   "What kind of stuff?"

   "Not telling.  It's a surprise."

   "A surprise?  My punishment is a surprise?"

   "Yep."

   "Okay," I said, feeling myself growing more and more sleepy.  "I guess
you can punish me in the morning then."

   "Of course I can," Heather giggled.  "But when has that really been your
choice?  You're the one being punished, it's not like you really have any
decision making power here, you know."

   "I suppose so," I mumbled.

   "I know so," Heather answered.  "Now get some sleep," she said, kissing
me lightly on the cheek.  "You'll need your strength tomorrow."

   "Night," I said quietly.  I closed my eyes and before I knew it slipped
into unconsciousness.

   *****

   "Wake up, Slave."

   I was jarred out of my sleep by what I assumed was a sharp slap to the
face.  I opened my eyes to see what was happening, but saw only darkness. I
felt what appeared to be a heavy blindfold over my eyes, leather by the
smell of it.  I listened for any sounds in the bedroom, but could hear
nothing.

   "What the hell?" I asked, realizing that my hands were somehow fastened
above my head.  I struggled against whatever it was keeping me in place,
but quickly gave up.  I tried to turn, but realized my ankles were bound
the same way, leaving me spread-eagled on the bed.

   "Are you awake, Slave?" the voice repeated, the speaker close to my
right ear.  I quickly realized it was Heather, only she sounded different
somehow.  More forceful, more in command.

   "Heather?" I asked.  There was a short pause before a pain arced through
the muscles of my stomach.  I almost screamed at the sudden shock.

   "You will address me as Mistress, Slave," she said intoned.  "Do you
understand?"

   "Yes," I gasped, the effects of the pain still leaving me breathless.

   "Yes what, Slave?" she hissed and my breath caught in my throat as
another lance of pain shot through my body.  This time I had heard the
whistle of something - a whip?  - flashing through the air before the pain
impacted my body.

   "Yes, Mistress."

   "Good."

   "Mistress...?" I began, but my question was cut off.

   "Silence!" Heather said loudly.  "You will speak only when spoken to, do
you understand?"

   "Yes, Mistress."

   "Good." There was a pause and I felt something soft begin to run over my
body, and I realized I was naked.  I assumed the strips of leather moving
over my legs and groin were the tassels on the whip or crop Heather had
used on me.  Suddenly the leather was poking around my groin and I
involuntarily flinched as I imagined the whip cracking down on my penis.

   "Don't worry," Heather laughed evilly.  "I wouldn't hurt you there.  Do
you know why, Slave?"

   "No, Mistress."

   "I would gain no pleasure, and you do know why you are here, don't you
Slave?" she asked.

   "No, Mistress."

   "You are here to provide pleasure to me.  Do you think you can do that?"

   "I think I could provide more pleasure if I wasn't tied up," I said,
hoping I hadn't spoken out of turn.  There was another pause and I held my
breath, only releasing it when Heather laughed.

   "Very good, Slave.  You didn't address me as Mistress, but I won't
punish you for it.  This time.  But the reason you are tied up is because
you need to be punished.  Do you remember why you need to be punished?"

   "Because I ask too many questions, Mistress?"

   "Correct.  You need to understand, Slave, that the people I work for
have many rich clients, and chances are good that people wouldn't
understand if they found out what goes on there."

   "I would never tell, Mistress," I promised, grimacing as I heard, then
felt the whip flashing through the air and landing once again, this time
across the skin of my bare thighs.  I clenched my teeth, barely able to
avoid screaming as the shock coursed through my system.  I was breathing
heavily now, sure that when I was finally released my body would be covered
in red welts, if I wasn't already.

   "Did I ask you a question, Slave?" Heather asked menacingly.

   "No, Mistress.  I'm sorry, Mistress."

   "Very good.  Now it's time for you to pleasure me, Slave.  So I'll ask
again, do you think you can do that?" she asked.

   "Yes, Mistress," I answered, nodding my head vigorously.

   "Good.  But not in your condition.  Not with that puny little thing,"
she laughed, teasing the end of the whip over my still soft penis.  As the
soft leather continued to play over my genitals I felt myself slowly
becoming erect.  Finally I reached my full hardness and the whip
immediately disappeared, only to be replaced by Heather's soft hand.

   Her fingers wrapped around my shaft, slowly stroking my erection up and
down.  I groaned at her touch, arching my hips to thrust myself more
quickly into her hand.  Suddenly she released my cock and I felt another
blow from the whip, this time landing closer than ever to my groin.  I was
too stunned to cry out, instead trying to hunch my body into a little ball,
a useless gesture considering my bounds.

   "Never move," she hissed.  "You are here for my pleasure, not for your
own." This time I did scream as the whip snapped against my testicles,
which I felt promptly shrivel from the pain.

   "Shit," I hissed, feeling like I needed to throw up from the pain.

   "I'm sorry Slave," Heather said, and I thought I could hear true
sympathy in her voice, as if she hadn't meant to actually harm me with the
blow.  She waited a moment for me to recover, before asking if I was ready
to continue.

   I nodded, still unable to trust myself to speak.  My response must have
been good enough, for Heather's hand once more wrapped around my shaft,
which I was surprised to find had remained hard through the painful ordeal,
and again began stroking on my shaft.

   It took all my will power to remain motionless, but somehow I managed to
stay still on the bed while Heather's expert attentions drove me ever
closer to an orgasm.  I felt the first twinge of the onset of my release
and my cock gave an involuntary jerk in Heather's hand.  I fought back the
urge to groan as I felt myself quickly released, leaving my prick -
ridiculously, I assumed - waving in the air.

   "I think that's enough," she said, and I could hear the mirth in her
voice.  There was another pause and the bed began rocking as Heather
climbed aboard.  I couldn't tell what she was doing when suddenly I began
to smell her scent close by my head.

   "Pleasure me," she commanded.  I had just opened my mouth to reply when
I found my nose pressed into her pussy.  "Now," she said forcefully.

   With a start I realized Heather had shaved herself while I was gone. 
She wasn't completely bare, but the lips of her pussy were completely bald
and as I stretched out my tongue I found she was nearly dripping with
excitement.

   I craned my neck as far as I was able and Heather helped by dropping her
weight down on me, pressing her cunt against my face.  As my lips and
tongue went crazy in her slick wetness, I heard Heather gasping above me.

   "That's it Slave," she panted.  "Oh God...  right there!" she squealed.
My nose was pressing against the covered bump of her clit as my tongue
thrust as deeply as possible into her slick tunnel.  Sooner than I would
have expected Heather's legs clamped down on my shoulders and neck and I
felt my face become even wetter as she released a small stream of her
juices as her orgasm crashed down on her.

   As soon as she had recovered a bit from her climax, Heather was swiftly
off the bed.  I heard her rummaging around next to the bed when suddenly I
felt something being wrapped around the base of my cock.

   "Do you know what that is, Slave?" Heather asked as she again stroked at
my erection.  It was an unnecessary gesture on her part, as my prick felt
harder than it ever had.

   "No, Mistress," I panted.

   "That's a leather noose," she explained as I felt whatever it was
suddenly tighten around my shaft behind my testicles.  I felt my prick
swell even more as the flow of blood was suddenly restricted.  "I'm going
to fuck you now, but I think you'll find yourself having a difficult time
with it."

   "Why, Mistress?" I asked, fearing another lash of her whip, but none was
coming.

   "Because it makes it nearly impossible for you to have an orgasm," she
giggled, her laughter turning to a moan of pleasure as I felt her pussy
sink down onto my erection.

   Heather pumped up and down on my cock for a few minutes, giving herself
a tiny orgasm in the process, when whatever had been cutting off my vision
vanished and I squinted at the sudden intrusion of light.

   "I want you to watch me," Heather said as she rocked up and down on my
shaft.  "Watch me fucking you," she panted.

   My eyes quickly adjusted and for what seemed like an hour I could do
nothing but watch, my arms and legs bound to the bed with what I now
realized were scarves, as Heather pleasured herself with my cock.

   After Heather's third orgasm she collapsed down onto my chest, the
diamond hard points of her nipples digging into my chest as she panted
against me.

   After a moment's recovery, Heather - her face and chest still flushed
from her exertions - twisted on top of me to reach down to my cock.  I
twitched in pleasured agony as she slowly touched me, stroking the precum
now leaking from the angry red head of my prick all over the veiny surface
of my shaft.

   "I like your tool, Slave," she moaned, beginning to stroke me more
insistently.  All I could do in response was grimace and nod, my heart
beating more and more rapidly in my chest as my body cried out for release.

   Heather was facing away from me, the round globes of her ass aimed to my
eyes.  I saw the slim fingers of one of Heather's hands reach between her
slightly parted thighs to pleasure her cunt once more.  I noticed that the
insides of her legs were coated with her juices and groaned involuntarily.

   Heather looked back at me, a grin breaking out over her face as she
looked at me in my agony.  My face and torso were bathed in a coating of my
sweat and her juices and I know my eyes must have been frantic in my need.

   "Are you ready for your reward, Slave?" she asked.

   "Yes, Mistress," I panted.  "I'm ready."

   "Have you learned your lesson?" she asked, gripping my prick more
tightly as her eyes bored into mine.

   "Yes, Mistress," I said.  "I understand that your work needs to remain
private."

   "Very good, Slave," she said.  Before I was aware of it, I felt her hand
reach down and release the cuff from around my cock.  The rush of blood
entering and exiting my prick was almost painful, only slightly masked by
the pleasure I felt as Heather's mouth suddenly engulfed my prick.

   "Oh God!" I shouted, heedless of any additional whippings I might
receive for my transgressions as Heather's lips and tongue bathed my hot
flesh.

   Too soon I felt my orgasm rush upon me and what felt like gallons of cum
erupted from the head of my prick.  Heather's mouth stayed locked around
the head of my cock as I spurted into her mouth.  I felt a ring of darkness
closing in on my vision and realized I was close to passing out from the
rush.  I fought it with great gulps of air as my climax rushed through my
body.

   Long after the reservoir of semen had run dry, my prick still twitched
involuntarily in Heather's mouth.  Her lips and tongue, now sticky with my
sperm, continued to bathe my glans, causing various aftershocks to spasm
through my shaft until at last I softened and slipped out of her mouth.

   Finally, after who knows how many hours, Heather released my arms and
legs from their bindings and snuggled up next to me on the bed.  Despite
the awkward position my body had been held in my muscles felt only a bit
sore, although I assumed it would be much worse after a bit.

   The bedroom had a strong stink from our combined sweat and the odors of
our arousal, but as my heartbeat slowly came back to normal as Heather and
I lay intertwined I scarcely noticed it.

   "Do you feel properly punished, Slave?" Heather asked, a grin splitting
her face before she bent to kiss my lips.  Her tongue, still sticky and
coated with my orgasm, darted into my mouth.  I stiffened for a moment,
ever fearful of the supposed taboo of tasting my own semen, but to my
surprise the thick liquid had little taste.

   "Yes, Mistress," I said happily as I relaxed back into the bed.  "Very
properly punished indeed."

   Part Seven

   "What's wrong?" Heather asked the next morning as she watched me get out
of bed.

   "What do you mean?" I asked, stretching my back out.  I grimaced as I
felt my muscles scream at the effort.

   "I don't know...  you just don't look comfortable."

   "I'm not," I said.  "That really hurt last night."

   "Hurt?"

   "Yeah!  You went to town on me with that whip, dammit.  That hurt.  Do I
have any marks from it?" I asked, craning my neck to look at my inner
thighs.  I didn't see anything but some redness, but each step I took
seemed to put a lot of strain on my muscles.  "And it didn't help things
that I was tied up like that for so long."

   "Sorry," Heather said quietly.  "I thought you were enjoying it."

   "Why?" I asked in amazement.  I wasn't really angry, but I didn't quite
understand the sudden change in my girlfriend.  "Why would I enjoy that?"

   "I don't know," Heather said miserably.  "So many of the guys at the...
never mind," she said, stopping suddenly.

   "Tell me," I said quietly, sitting back down beside her on the bed."

   "I can't," she answered, shaking her head back and forth rapidly.  "I
can't tell."

   "Trust me, okay?" I asked.  "You know I'm not going say a word.  You
know that."

   Heather looked at me intently, apparently gauging my sincerity.  Finally
she sighed in resignation before answering.

   "A lot of guys at the club like that kind of thing.  I've watched Stacey
with them and they beg for it!  I've just been waiting for you to screw
up," she admitted, smiling nervously.  "Waiting for you to screw up so I
could try it out."

   "Well, do we have to do that again?" I asked.  "I didn't mind the
blindfold and being tied up was kind of cool, but sheesh!  No pain, okay?"

   "I'm sorry," she said.  "I...  I thought you were enjoying it too."

   "Why?  What could have possibly made you think that?"

   "Well...  you stayed hard the whole time."

   "Stand up," I said suddenly.

   "What?  Why?"

   "Just, please...  stand up, okay?"

   "I suppose," Heather responded, slowly rising from the bed.  Sometime in
the middle of the night, after our tryst, she had changed into her normal
short nightgown.  "What do you want?"

   "Just stand there for a moment," I answered, moving my eyes slowly up
and down her body.  I paused as I watched the swell of her breasts moving
up and down as she breathed, each breath pressing her nipples against the
thin material.  "Take it off," I said quietly.

   Heather looked at me again, but quickly pulled the tiny garment up and
over her her head.  The motion again thrust her breasts out and I felt my
prick swell at the sight.

   "Now what?" she asked.

   "Just stand there," I said again.  "I want to look at you."

   Once again I moved my eyes over her body.  I looked at her newly-shaved
pussy, the lips clean from any hair.  As I stared, Heather shifted her
weight nervously from foot to foot.

   Finally I felt my prick reach full hardness and stood.  Heather's eyes
widened as she saw me - fully aroused - and let out a small gasp.

   "That's what you do to me," I said.  "I don't need any whips or pain to
make me want you.  You're all I ever wanted."

   "Oh, Daniel!" Heather blurted out, reaching out a hand to stroke the
crown of my penis.  "I'm so sorry!"

   "It's okay," I said.  Heather suddenly dropped to her knees, pushing me
back against the bed.  I was forced to a sitting position, leaning my
weight back on my hands as Heather quickly took my whole length in her
throat.

   I could hear short gasps coming from Heather's mouth as she bobbed up
and down my erection, her lips and tongue playing wildly over my sensitive
skin.

   "This is so much better," I answered, reaching out to stroke my hands
through her curly auburn hair.  "So much better."

   *****

   The next month flew by and before I knew it the end of the school year
had arrived.  Heather had pretty much moved in permanently at this point.
We had brought her things out of storage and I was happy I'd had enough
money to rent a two-bedroom apartment instead of the single I had planned
on.

   The room I had been using for my studying had been converted to a
temporary storage area for the majority of Heather's belongings, and the
piano had been moved into the living area.  I was sitting at home one day
in my...  our bedroom, when Heather called from work.

   "Daniel!  What's happening with you this afternoon?" she asked.

   "Nothing much," I answered.  "Dr.  Bergerud gave everyone the afternoon
off, and was out of the offices by noon.  I stuck around for a while to
finish grading some papers, but I got out of there by two o'clock and I've
just been sitting around doing a bit of studying for finals," I said. 
"Why? What's going on?"

   "Oh, I was just wondering if you'd like to come see the club," she
answered.

   "Today?  Are you serious?  Will they let me in?" I asked.  "You do
realize, oh Mistress mine, that I'm neither rich nor powerful...  not quite
the clientele you're used to serving."

   "Not today," Heather answered.  "Two weeks from now.  There's some
special reception.  The college actually rented out the club."

   "Wait a minute...  my college?" I asked.

   "Yeah...  I think for a faculty night or something," Heather answered.
"I'm not really sure, but for some reason I got invited, even though I'm
not working that night.  I can invite a guest...  you want to come?"

   "I'd love to!" I practically shouted.  "Ever since you started working
there...  before that really, ever since I started going to school here,
I've wanted to get in, but never could.  Is this a casual event?  Or should
I dress up?" I asked.

   "Definitely dress up," Heather replied.  "I think you better rent a tux
for the night."

   "What are you wearing?" I asked.

   "You know that little black dress you like so much?"

   "You mean the one I like removing from your body?" I teased.

   "That's the one," Heather laughed.  "I'll be wearing that."

   "Wow," I said, whistling my approval.  "This must be some kind of swank
shindig...  you sure you won't get in trouble for inviting me?" I asked.

   "Sure I'm sure.  Who's going to complain?  I was invited and you're my
guest."

   "Good point," I said.  "When do you get off work?" I asked.  "Six
o'clock like usual?"

   "Yeah, you fixing dinner?"

   "Just like always," I answered.  "Chinese takeout or delivery pizza?"

   "Chinese sounds good," she laughed.  "See you then?"

   "I'll be waiting with bells on," I answered.

   "Mmm...  I like the sound of that," she giggled.  "Anything besides the
bells?"

   "Not if you ask nicely," I laughed.  "See you then."

   "Bye."

   True to my word, I prepared the world's greatest meal of Chinese takeout
and had it ready by the time Heather returned from work.

   I was not however wearing bells.  In fact, I wasn't wearing anything at
all when she arrived home.  Heather didn't seem to mind though, and truth
be told she had a really good time.  She said she particularly liked my egg
roll, and who am I to disagree?

   *****

   "What are your plans for summer?" Dr.  Bergerud asked me a couple weeks
later.  There were only two more days of finals and I was looking forward
to the break.

   "I'm thinking I'll get a part time job somewhere and just enjoy the nice
weather," I answered.  "Maybe catch some of the college World Series games
next month.  Why?  You have something better?" I asked.

   "Maybe," he answered.  "How would you feel about going to Europe?"

   "Europe?  What's in Europe?"

   "Every year there is a large international choral symposium and this
July it's in Stockholm."

   "Sweden?" I asked, my mouth agape.

   "Is there another?" he grinned.

   "Why are you going?" I asked.  I hadn't heard him mention this before
and the opportunity was coming as quite a shock, although I was a bit
unsure as to what my responsibility would be on the trip.

   "I try to go every year.  It's very often in an exotic locale, although
a couple years ago it was in Minneapolis...  not very exciting."

   "What would we do?" I asked.  "Why do you need me?"

   "I don't need you, but I think it would be a good experience for you to
come along.  You'd meet some important people, experience a different
culture and hear a lot of wonderful music," he answered.

   "Sheesh, you sound like a recruiter," I laughed.

   "Is it working?" he wanted to know.

   "Kind of," I admitted.  "It sounds great, but I don't have a lot of
money, and I'm sure it costs quite a bit."

   "Actually, it wouldn't cost anything at all," he answered.  "And if you
wanted, Heather could come along too, although she would need to pay for
her plane ticket."

   "Are you serious?" I asked.  Dr.  Bergerud of course knew about Heather
and I, and in fact had been tickled that we were together, but to invite
her along?  It sounded too good to be true.

   "Sure," he laughed.  "I don't think it would be fair for you to leave
her all alone for the summer, do you?"

   "Well, it wasn't something I'd planned on doing," I said.  "Are you sure
this is okay?  Who's paying for this?"

   "The school is paying my way and would pay all of your expenses," he
answered.  "And the fees for admittance to the symposium are fairly
negligible, which only leaves the transportation over there."

   "That wouldn't be a problem," I said, writing myself a mental note to
check my bank statement when I got home, hoping what I'd just said was
true. "But what about hotels?"

   "I had assumed the two of you would want to share a room," he grinned
slyly.  "Was I mistaken?"

   "That would be okay?" I asked hesitantly.  "I'd assumed you and I would
be sharing a room, to save money."

   "Absolutely not," he laughed.  "I'm taking my family along with me.  You
aren't invited to share our rooms!"

   "I suppose not," I said, smiling at the idea.  "I'm sure I'd just be in
the way."

   "You'll think about it?" he asked, looking at me seriously.  "I really
think it would be a good experience for you."

   "Can I run it by Heather first?" I asked.

   "Of course," Dr.  Bergerud laughed.  "A good husband does exactly that."

   "We're not married," I stammered weakly.  "I just meant..."

   "It's okay.  I was just teasing.  By all means, run it by her."

   "I'll do that," I answered.

   "Good.  Now get out of here, go enjoy the sunshine," Dr.  Bergerud
commanded.  "That's an order."

   "Yes sir!"

   *****

   "Yes!  Oh God, yes!" was Heather's reply when I posed the Europe
question to her.

   "Tell me how you really feel about it," I laughed.  In response Heather
launched herself at me, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms
around my neck, propelling us both back onto the couch.

   "How's this for starters?" she asked, and began peppering my face and
neck with tiny little kisses, each one closer to my mouth until at last she
pressed herself firmly against me.  I could feel her breasts crushing
against my chest as our crotches seemed ready to meld together, even
through our clothing.

   "I think I get the idea," I panted when I was finally able to pull away.
"I think you like it!"

   "Oh, that will be so wonderful!" she gushed.  "I've never been to
Europe. Hell, the longest vacation I've ever taken was to Colorado when I
was a little girl.  Europe!  How cool is that?"

   "Pretty damn cool," I agreed.

   "Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite?" Heather grinned,
beginning to squirm around in my lap.  Even though my jeans and her shorts
I could feel the heat of her pussy bathing my groin and my cock responded
appropriately, threatening to burst through the blue denim.

   "I'm your favorite what?" I asked innocently, reaching around to cup the
firm flesh of her buttocks.

   "My favorite everything," she grinned.  My hands were reaching for the
buttons of her blouse when suddenly Heather leaped off my lap and spun to
walk away.

   "Where are you going?" I asked.  "You can't leave me like this," I said,
looking pointedly at the obvious bulge protruding from my lap.

   "Come on," she replied.  "We have to get ready!" Heather reached out a
hand, grabbing me by the wrist and forcefully pulled me up from the couch.
"The reception starts in an hour and a half."

   "That's plenty of time," I replied, trying to pull her back down on top
of me.

   "Maybe for you," she sniffed.  "We girls like to take our time getting
all pretty."

   "You don't need it, you're perfect just the way you are," I answered
honestly.

   "Be that as it may, I have to get ready.  Don't worry though," she said
with a twinkle in her eye.  "I'm sure I'll think of some way to make it up
to you afterwards."

   "I can think of a couple ways myself," I laughed, swatting her on the
butt as she walked away.

   As I had suspected, it only took me a few minutes to get myself to what
I felt was a more than presentable state, but as Heather had predicted, it
appeared to be taking her much longer.

   I was looking at my watch for what seemed like the thousandth time,
wondering if we would make it to the party on time, when suddenly I heard a
loud noise from the bedroom.

   *****

   I rushed to the bedroom, surprised and worried to hear Heather cursing
angrily.

   "What's the problem?" I asked, my laughter quickly dying when I saw the
frustrated look on her face.

   "It's this damn dress," she hissed and I realized her hands were behind
her back, fumbling with the tab of the zipper.  "It's stuck!" she said
unnecessarily.  I could see the frustration in her eyes as her fingers
tugged in vain at the offending zipper.

   "Can I help?" I offered, relieved the problem wasn't serious.

   I walked up behind Heather, sweeping her auburn hair away from the
dress. I could feel the silky fabric of the dress, smooth and soft under my
fingers as I caressed her back with my fingers.  My hand slid around her
body, pressing lightly again her hip.

   "The zipper's not on the side," she giggled, playfully swatting at my
hand.

   "So?" I asked as I bend down.  I brushed my lips over the now exposed
nape of her neck, feeling a shiver run through Heather's body as my breath
blew hot over her skin.

   "Oh yes," she moaned as I kissed down as far as I could, stopping only
when my lips met the fabric of her dress.  Heather pushed herself back
against me, the soft swell of her ass pressing against the front of my
slacks.  I felt myself swell at the contact, the gentle rhythm of her hips
against mine signaling she too was aware of my sudden protrusion.

   "Now, where is that damn zipper?" I asked.  "Is it down here?" I teased
as I ran my fingers up under the short hem of the dress.  Heather's legs
spread slightly and I could feel her heat and wetness.  "Naughty girl," I
chided lightly.  "You're not wearing any panties."

   Heather's skin was slick with her juices as my fingers explored deeper,
gently sliding over the hot, slippery flesh of her labia.  I could feel her
breath becoming ragged, slow and heavy now as I continued my search for the
elusive zipper.

   "It's not down there," Heather moaned, but it was obvious she didn't
want my search to end.  The motion of her hips as she rocked against my
hand gave her away, and I continued.

   "Delicious," I murmured as I brought my fingers, coated with pussy
juice, to my lips.  I began to lick the slippery, pungent juice from my
fingers but was interrupted as Heather's head turned and instead our lips
met in a frantic kiss.  Her tongue lashed against mine and a small tremor
rushed through her body as she tasted her own juices, but the realization
only caused her kisses to become all the more frantic.

   "The zipper's in the back," Heather finally gasped.  I smiled as her
hands once more reached behind her body, against struggling with the
offending zipper.

   I turned Heather's body and immediately the problem became obvious.

   "Here goes," I said, seeing the tiny fold of cloth caught in the teeth
of the zipper.  I grabbed hold firmly, pulling steadily outward.  I heard a
sharp tear as the cloth pulled free and suddenly the mechanism cleared.

   "You went the wrong direction," Heather laughed, turning again to face
me.  "You were supposed to help me get dressed, not undress me!" Her
nipples were hard bullets, poking out through the fabric of the black
dress. She stood there, looking sultry and not at all upset when with a
flick of my wrist I slid the straps from her shoulders, causing the dress
to fall to the ground and I could see that wet trails of Heather's slick
juices have leaked from her heated pussy.

   "I think I'm a little overdressed," I quipped as I reached for my
slacks. "Don't you?"

   "What about the reception?" Heather asked, but her argument seemed weak
to me as her hands played over my body.  She quickly brushed my hands away
from my belt, sliding her fingers over the lump in my slacks.  I sucked in
a breath as she reached for my zipper.  Suddenly she began giggling and
nearly collapsed to the floor in a fit of hysterics.

   "What?" I asked as I began to become annoyed.

   "Your zipper is stuck too," she giggled.

   "Damn," I cursed.  Deciding quickly that this was no time for dallying I
reached down and pulled roughly at the zipper, which quickly popped loose
along with a good deal of stitching.

   "Much better," Heather laughed as she reached for my slacks.  My belt
was quickly unbuckled and before I realized what was happening my slacks
pooled around my ankles, and I stood in front of her, wearing only my tux
shirt and boxers.

   "Oh shit, Heather!  That's so good," I moaned as her warm hand reached
through the opening in my underwear.  Heather's fingers wrapped around my
shaft, which was already very hard and very ready.  Heather quickly freed
my cock and I hissed as her tongue snaked out to lick at the swollen head
as she knelt in front of me.

   "You like that?" she teased as I grabbed her shoulders to steady myself.
I nodded frantically, willing her to continue and sighing with pleasure as
finally Heather managed to take my shaft completely in her mouth.

   Her head began bobbing rapidly on my shaft, back and forth again and
again as her lips and tongue played along the sensitive skin of my prick.

   As Heather's head moved back and forth along my cock I was reminded of a
circus seal and despite my best efforts to hold back, found myself giggling
with laughter, My knees jerked uncontrollably and I nearly forced my cock
down Heather's throat in the process.

   "God dammit!" she yelled and I had to fight back a scream as her teeth
raked over the thin skin of my cock as she pulled away.  "What are you
doing?  What's so funny?" she asked.

   "Nothing," I groaned as I ran my fingers over my wilting prick, checking
for signs of blood.  Thankfully my hand came away clean.

   "Didn't sound like nothing," she muttered, shaking her head as I slowly
jerked my cock back to full erection.  "No," she hissed.  "You almost
choked me with that thing."

   "I'm sorry," I said, reaching down to pull Heather to her feet.  "Why
don't you lay down on the bed and I promise to make it up to you."

   "How?" she asked suspiciously.

   "Oh, you know."

   "No, I don't," she answered.

   "Just trust me, okay?  I promise you'll enjoy it."

   "I better," Heather sulked momentarily, before turning to head to the
bedroom.  I watched, entranced as the smooth cheeks of her ass slid
rhythmically against one another as she walked away.

   Shaking my head to get myself moving, I quickly moved to the kitchen.  A
can of whipped cream and a bottle of chocolate sauce were obvious choices
for what I had in mind.  While the chocolate warmed in the microwave I
completed my collection with a jar of honey, and hastily returned to the
bedroom.

   "Close your eyes," I said, holding the objects behind my back.

   "Okay," Heather answered, although I could see her trying to peer around
me, but the items remained hidden for the moment.

   "Lay on your back and close your eyes," I said.  When she had done so I
placed the items on the bed beside her and reached under her bed, where the
scarves from a month ago were still bunched together.  I pulled out a heavy
black scarf and quickly wrapped it around her eyes.

   "I can't see," Heather complained.

   "I know," I said.  Turnabout is fair play, don't you think?"

   "Yes, Master," Heather answered automatically, and I had to fight again
to keep from laughing.

   "It's not like that," I said.  "No mask, no whips, absolutely no cock
cuff this time!" I said to Heather's giggles.  "This is for you.  Just
enjoy it, okay?"

   I leaned down and began to run my fingers over the smooth skin of
Heather's body, stopping only to tweak a nipple to full arousal.  I could
hear Heather take a sharp breath as I continued to caress her full breasts.

   My hand traveled further down her body and as it came into view I leaned
down to lick at the puckered dimple of Heather's belly button, eliciting a
giggle and sigh of pleasure for my trouble.  Heather's legs spread wide for
me as I continued down her body, her hips cocking up in anticipation of a
finger or tongue against her wet pussy.

   "Don't move," I whispered a bit harshly.  Heather nodded silently. 
Instead of a finger or tongue I uncapped the can of whipped cream and
sprayed a heavy coating of the cold foam all over the slick skin of her
moist pussy.

   "That's cold," she squealed as the cream began almost instantly melting
on her hot skin.  Heather's hips began squirming at the sensation and I
watched as her hands began reaching down to touch herself.

   "I said don't move." I watch in satisfaction as Heather's hands freeze
in mid-reach, hanging motionless in the air before slowly moving back to
her sides.  There would be no bondage or discipline, but I was still in
charge.  "Lay still and let me do all the work.  This is all for you, but
if you move I stop."

   "Then why don't you tie me up?" Heather asked.  I laugh at the thought,
remembering how well she had done at those games.

   "Not this time."

   "Why not?" she asked, the question pitched almost to the level of a
whine.

   "I want the anticipation to be a struggle.  You're going to have to
fight yourself to stay in control, while I do my best to make you lose
control.  This is all about tension and release, tension and release... 
anticipation and fulfillment."

   "What if I move?"

   "I leave you here and go watch a game on TV."

   "You wouldn't," Heather hissed.

   "Yep.  I would.  Are you going to behave?"

   "As much as I can," Heather quickly agreed.

   "Good." Silently now I reached down, spreading the whipped cream around
and into the soft fur of her pussy mound.  Her skin was hot to the touch,
cooling only slightly under the cream, much of which had liquefied and had
begun dripping between the puffy lips of her pussy.

   Above me I heard a gentle sigh, part excitement and part frustration as
a tiny trickle of cream slid down between her thighs and began pooling on
the bed.  I reached out with my hands and parted Heather's thighs, slipping
my head down next to her heated opening.  My tongue snaked out from my
mouth and licked at the sweet liquid, which had begun mixing with her own
juices, the pungent juices now almost pouring out of Heather's pussy.

   "Delicious," I murmured.  Once more I leaned down, opening my mouth wide
as my tongue swiped as much of the sticky treat into my mouth as I could.
Without warning I captured the erect bud of Heather's clit between my lips,
lashing at it with my tongue as I felt her hips spasm beneath me.

   "All done," I announced evilly, nearly bursting with laughter at the
shocked expression on Heather's face.

   The internal struggle was obvious as she fought to remain motionless on
the bed.  As the battle inside Heather was raging I uncapped the still warm
bottle of chocolate sauce and began to drizzle the thick liquid over
Heather's breasts, coating the pink nipples as the ice cream topping
dripped down the pale cones of flesh.  Heather's reaction was almost
violent as the warm liquid touched her skin, tiny pimples of goose flesh
popping up in response to the sudden change.

   Before the topping could drip onto the sheets, I reached out a finger
and began painting Heather's body with the chocolate.  Her chest was
flushed pink with arousal and the rich brown of her new coating contrasted
nicely with the rosy hue of her skin.

   Finally I managed to coat Heather's breasts and chest and once more my
head dipped toward her body, this time to enjoy the delicious task of
bathing her body with my tongue.

   I wasted no time in cleaning as much of the chocolate as I could,
leaving Heather with a faint sheen of chocolate and perspiration, as her
body demanded more and more stimulation from me.  As soon as I had finished
I reached for the jar of honey.  My cock was still sticking out through the
opening in my boxers and I squirted a heavy coating of the sticky sweet
liquid up and down my shaft before moving close to Heather's face.

   "Open your mouth," I whispered, my cock dangerously close to dripping
honey over her anxious face.  Heather's lips immediately opened and I
quickly slipped my prick into her hot mouth.  As the sweet liquid
registered with her brain, Heather's tongue started frantically sliding up
and down my shaft.

   I twisted around slowly so as not to break her mouth's contact with my
cock, throwing one leg up and over Heather's chest, straddling her body.  I
reached down, spreading her legs once more before bending down to attend to
her needs.  The whipped cream was still sweet to the tongue as I began
licking up and down the puffy slit of Heather's pussy.

   My fingers were also busy, diddling at the pronounced bud of Heather's
clit.  All thoughts of calm and restraint were long forgotten as I attacked
the slippery flesh in front of me.  I heard Heather's moans becoming more
and more high pitched as she sucked at my erection, before finally my cock
popped loose from her mouth as Heather let out a wail.

   Suddenly a spray of juiced erupted from Heather's cunt as an orgasm
rushed through her body.  Her legs snapped closed around my neck and I was
forced to ride out the seemingly never-ending string of eruptions in her
pussy and thighs.  At last, with a satisfied grunt Heather allowed her legs
to relax and quickly I felt my prick once more enveloped in the satiny
smoothness of her mouth.

   It was but a moment before I found myself powerfully aroused again and
shortly after that I felt the cum begin to boil up from my balls.

   "Here I come," I gasp as the first blast erupted into Heather's waiting
mouth.  It seemed to me as if the orgasm would continue forever as Heather
waited beneath me, swallowing rapidly to capture my cream.

   "Yummy," she giggled as I collapsed against her body, my head resting
lightly between her open thighs.  Heather's sticky pubic hair was wet
against my chin but I was too far gone at that point to care.

   "How was that?" I finally asked when I had regained a bit of my breath.

   "Fantastic!" she laughed, still slightly out of breath herself.  "Was it
good for you?"

   "I think so," I panted lightly.  "Way better than any baseball game."

   "Yeah," Heather agreed dreamily, her eyes still lightly glazed over with
passion.  "Way better."

   After a moment's rest Heather and I hurried to get dressed again. 
Thankfully the rip in her dress wasn't all that noticeable and my slacks
weren't that bad either.  Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to
shower, but we deemed each other presentable enough for the event.

   Needless to say, we were very unfashionably late.

   *****

   "That's Stacey," Heather whispered once the two of us had safely
navigated our way past the phalanx of security and a burly looking man who
was supposedly on coat check detail, although Heather said he was the
club's weekend bouncer.

   "Which one?" I asked, scanning the crowd for someone I thought matched
Heather's description of her older coworker.

   "The lady right over there, by the bar," she said, finally pointing out
the woman who had provided Heather with her new leather bondage toys. 
"Wearing the tight little green number."

   "That's Stacey?" I gulped, realizing Heather was talking about the woman
who seemed to be the center of attention on the far side of the room.  She
was holding a drink in her left hand, a cigarette in her right and seemed
to be conversing with the five or six men surrounding her, all seemingly
vying for her attentions.

   "Yeah, I told you she was cute, didn't I?"

   "The redhead over there?" I asked, to make sure we were discussing the
same woman.

   "Yes!" Heather laughed.  "Now try to pick your eyes up off the floor,
and please close your mouth.  A fly might decide to land in there," she
giggled.

   "My mouth wasn't open," I huffed as we walked toward Heather's coworker.
The thought occurred to me that even without the scarves and whip, I would
be hard-pressed to find a reason to do anything other than what Stacey
ordered me.

   "Heather!" the woman called out as she saw us approaching.  I saw many
of the men turn and ogle Heather with interest when they first saw her,
looks of disappointment flashing over their faces when they saw her arm
firmly entwined with my own.

   "Stacey!" Heather nearly shouted in response, breaking free of my hold
and threading her way between Stacey's pool of admirers.  The two women
embraced and I saw as they carried on a brief, whispered conversation. 
Stacey glanced my way more than once, a distinct look of interest in her
eyes and I blushed, assuming I knew the topic of their discussion.

   I tried to make myself scarce, heading over to the bar to grab a drink.
As I waited in line I took time to glance around the room.  What I had
imagined to be a dark, dungeon-like environment, walls lined with brick and
lit with candles was nothing more than a lush party room, similar to one
you might find in any club.  I wasn't at all surprised to find no traces of
the kinky games Heather had hinted went on here, but the utter banality
caught me off guard.

   "Come on," Heather said, coming up behind me and pulling me back to
Stacey, who was now waiting patiently by herself.

   "What happened to her suitors?" I asked in jest.

   "God, don't mention them," Heather giggled.

   "Mention who?" Stacey asked, overhearing Heather's last remark as we
approached.

   "Your gaggle of friends," Heather laughed.  "Tell Daniel what you told
them."

   "Will he approve?" Stacey asked with a raised eyebrow.

   "He's a guy," Heather answered, looking at me out of the corner of her
eye.  "I'm sure it's one of his major fantasies."

   "What is?" I asked in confusion, wondering how one of my fantasies could
possibly have something to do with Stacey.

   "Me with another woman," answered Heather, glancing at Stacey.

   "What?" I asked, feeling rather dumb.  "Two women together?  That's
pretty much every man's fantasy, isn't it?  But what does this have to do
with the two of you?  Clue me in, okay?"

   "Your girlfriend saved me from the wolves," Stacey replied.  "When she
walked up I told all those gentlemen that they had been wasting their time,
now that my lover was here."

   "Good one," I laughed.  "Very inventive of you."

   "Yes," Stacey murmured, looking at Heather and me with what I took to be
more than a passing interest.  "Very inventive indeed."

   I was spared another round of confusion and stupid questions when
Heather spoke up.

   "Where's your husband?" Heather asked the older woman, who glanced
around the room before answering.

   "Yes, where is Henry tonight?" Stacey replied.  "He's been dying to meet
you since I told him about the items I loaned you," she said with a grin.

   "You told him?" Heather asked, her eyes wide open in surprise.  She
looked at me in embarrassment.  "I didn't know," she said softly to me
before turning back to Stacey.  "Why did you tell him?" she wanted to know.

   "I tell Henry whatever he wants," she said simply.  "I can't really
refuse him anything.  He can be very persuasive."

   "So he knows?" asked Heather in consternation.  "I had hoped it would be
a secret."

   "Oh, don't worry about that," Stacey said.  "Where do you think I got
all those wonderful toys in the first place?" she asked.  "You'd be
surprised at how good Henry is at keeping secrets."

   "Are you sure?" asked Heather.

   "Of course.  Oh!  There he is now," she said happily.  "I think the two
of you will really like him," she said.  "Henry!  Henry, come over here,"
she called out, waving her hand at someone behind us.  I turned, but
couldn't see who she was motioning to.  "He teaches music at one of the
colleges in town," she said to me, "so I know the two of you will have
something to talk about while your girlfriend and I talk about girly
things."

   "Great," I said, happy that the evening wouldn't be a total waste.  I
felt someone step up behind me and began turning to greet who I assumed
would be Stacey's husband.

   "Henry," she said.  "This is Heather Morris, the girl I was telling you
about, and this is her boyfriend.  He's a music student in the area, so
you're in charge of entertaining him tonight.  I'm afraid I didn't catch
his name..."

   "Daniel Parker," a voice answered.  My stomach dropped and I suddenly
felt my heart stuck in my throat as I turned.

   "Dan," her husband said as he reached out to shake my hand.  "Good to
see you again."

   "Dr.  Bergerud," I managed softly, the shock evident in my eyes, I'm
sure.

   *****

   "That was your professor?" Heather asked when we got home.

   "That was your coworker?" I asked in response.  I threw my jacket down
onto the couch and slumped into a chair.  "What happens now?" I wondered
aloud.

   "What do you mean?"

   "How can I go back?"

   "To school?  What's the big deal?" Heather asked.

   "He knows!" I shot back

   "Dan, don't be so thick about this," she laughed.  "What's he going to
say?  Who could he possibly complain to, if that's what you're worried
about.  Is he going to tell the dean that his graduate assistant might be
engaging in somewhat kinky bondage games with his girlfriend, using
equipment that his wife had loaned them, equipment that he uses with her
all the time?"

   "Well..."

   "Well, nothing!  This isn't a problem, not at all."

   "Do you really think that?"

   "Sure, why?  Don't you?"

   "I don't know...  I wasn't really worried about anything that the school
might do to me.  It was really more about how I'd behave around Dr. 
Bergerud, now that he knows, and I know about him."

   "You were fine tonight," Heather pointed out as she started down the
hallway toward the bedroom.

   "That's different," I called after her.  "Tonight was...  too much of a
shock for me.  I don't think I was all that chatty, to be honest."

   "You seemed okay, I thought," she yelled back.

   "Thanks, I guess.  Trust me though...  I was a complete wreck inside. 
All I kept thinking was that if I sprinted for the door I could be outside
before anyone noticed I was missing."

   "If you would have run I would have caught you," laughed Heather as she
returned to the living room.  It took a moment before I realized she was
naked.  Her nipples were already swollen and puffy, the lips of her pussy
slick with her juices, and I could see she was holding something behind her
back.

   "Oh?  And then what?" I asked, trying to see what she had in her hands.
She saw where I was looking and slowly brought her hands around to where I
could see them.

   I gasped as I realized she was holding the scarves we had used as
restraints.

   "I would have had to punish you, after I had my way with you," she
grinned as she walked over to where I was sitting.  I watched the sway of
her hips, nearly hypnotized by their motion, as she approached.  "Put your
hands in the air," she said simply.

   I did as she commanded, feeling my cock begin to stir in my pants.  As
mortified as I had been to be found out by my professor, the thought of
lying powerless, naked on the bed still thrilled me.  Heather smiled as she
saw the lump forming in my pants.

   "You love this, don't you?" she said.  I could only nod.

   Heather had finished tying my hands together and pulled me to my feet
and began dragging me back to the bedroom.

   "Hurry up," she said as she lay on the bed, idly dragging her fingertips
over her turgid nipples.  I was struggling to remove my shirt and pants,
hindered by the fact that my hands were still tied together by the scarf.

   "This would be easier if I wasn't all tied up," I said grumpily.

   "Quiet, Slave," she said happily, enjoying my struggles.  "Don't make
this any harder than it has to be." In spite of her warning, Heather did
finally pull herself up off the bed and walked around to where I was
standing.

   With a deft tug at my waistband, Heather quickly rid me of my pants. 
Dragging her hand over the lump in my underwear Heather cooed as she felt
my erection.

   "That's enough," she said as I struggled in vain with my shirt.  "Your
hands are tied together.  You'll never get it off."

   "Can't you help?" I pleaded as she pushed me back onto the bed.  I soon
found myself on my back, my boxers around my ankles as Heather sucked on my
prick, quickly bringing me to full hardness.

   "Can I help what...  get you off?" she giggled.  "I think I can do
that."

   "Oh God!" I gasped as I felt the head of my prick slide down her throat.
Suddenly I felt her throat muscles begin rippling along my cock.  "Where
did you learn to do that?" I asked.

   "I pick up things here and there," she said vaguely when she came up for
air.  "I have a question for you," she said, heedless of my desire for her
to continue sucking on me.

   "What?" I moaned, thrusting my hips up at her to no avail.

   "Should we bring this with us?" she asked as she threw a leg over my
hips, the wet lips of her pussy sliding over the head of my prick.  She
gasped as she lubricated my cock, sighing with contentment as she allowed
me to slip into her wetness.

   "Bring what...  where?" I panted.

   "Stacey said we should," Heather said.

   "Said we should what?" I asked.

   "She said we should bring the toys to Sweden."

   "Sweden?" I asked dumbly, my attentions riveted on Heather's breasts as
they bobbed and swayed in front of my face.  Heather grinned as she saw
where I was looking and brought her hands to her chest and quickly began to
grab and pull at her nipples.

   My own orgasm was quickly approaching and judging by Heather's frantic
thrusting, she was close herself.

   "I think she likes me," she panted.  "Maybe we could make your fantasy
come true."

   "What fantasy?" I gasped, trying to hold off my climax until Heather had
reached her peak.

   "I think Stacey wants to fuck me," Heather gasped, thrusting down hard
on my cock.  I felt the walls of her pussy begin to spasm around me as her
orgasm washed through her body.

   Suddenly the image of my girlfriend and the beautiful wife of my
professor making love together was clear in my mind.  Before I knew it my
own orgasm rushed upon me and I began coating the inside of Heather's wet
cunt with my sperm.

   "You like the idea?" Heather grinned as she collapsed onto my chest. 
She reached behind me, deftly releasing my hands from their restraint.  I
shook them a couple times to hasten the flow of blood back to my fingers
before reaching around to engulf Heather in a hug.

   "I...  I don't know," I stammered, wondering if I was being set up in
some way.

   "You don't know?  You are such a liar!" she laughed as my prick,
treacherous animal that it is, began almost immediately to swell inside her
pussy.  "I think part of you is telling the truth."

   "Would you really do that?" I asked as Heather squirmed on top of me,
moaning as my cock once again filled her up.

   "If you want me to," she said.  "This could be fun," she panted as she
began thrusting down against my erection.

   "What could?" I asked.  My hands, finally free to roam her body, began
teasing the hot flesh of Heather's breasts.She moaned against my chest as I
teased the nipples, already hard with passion.

   "Europe," she panted.  "I think we can have a good time in Sweden," she
said, thrusting up and down on my erection more rapidly as her orgasm
approached.  "Don't you?" she asked.

   "Yes!" I cried out as I felt her pussy spasm around my cock once more.I
felt my own orgasm burst out of me in a torrent, the sensation so strong
that I felt myself short of breath.  "Oh God, yes!" I screamed before
completely blacking out.

   Part Eight

   "Are you sure you have everything?" I asked from my car, where I had
been arranging my suitcase and our two pieces of carry-on luggage.  I
hurried to help when I noticed Heather struggling to carry her suitcase
down the sidewalk to my car, but she shook her head for me not to bother.

   "You mean this?" she asked, looking down at her luggage.  "This is most
of it." Heather continued lugging the battered suitcase towards the car as
I stood there, momentarily stunned.

   "Most of it?" I asked cautiously.  "How much is left?" I looked around
the tiny back seat of my compact car and wondered exactly where all of our
stuff was going to fit.

   "My smaller suitcase has all of our bathroom stuff, along with some
bedroom toys," she said, grinning slyly at me.

   "You...  you brought stuff?" I asked.  "Nothing...  nothing painful
right?  We talked about that, I thought."

   "No," she laughed.  "Nothing painful."

   "But...  what if someone sees it?"

   "Like who?"

   "Like someone from the airport, or from the hotel?"

   "Who cares?" she shrugged.  "It's not in our carry-on luggage, so if
someone does see it, it isn't like we'll be standing right there looking
guilty about it!  And if we leave it out at the hotel, it would just be one
of the maids that sees it.  I don't care!"

   "Fine," I said, smiling a little.  "Just be sure to put up the Do Not
Disturb sign if you want to start anything...  kinky, okay?"

   "Promise," Heather nodded.  "Although it might be fun to leave you tied
to the bed while I called down for room service."

   "You wouldn't!" I said, my eyes I'm sure growing as wide as silver
dollars.

   "You were going to leave me in the bedroom and watch a baseball game on
television," Heather huffed, while I burst into laughter.

   "I was not," I laughed.

   "You said you were," she replied.

   "You were naked, dripping wet for me...  how could any man leave that
behind?"

   "You mean it?" she asked, reaching out to wrap her arms around my neck
and pull my head down.

   "I mean it," I answered just before her lips met mine.

   "Good," she said after a minute.  "Now hurry up, or we'll be late!"

   "Yes, ma'am," I said, snapping off my best salute.  "Your wish is my
command."

   "Humph," Heather grunted.  "Don't you forget it," she said menacingly,
but there was a twinkle in her eye.

   As the two of us drove to the airport she continued to look at me from
the passenger's seat.

   "What's up?" I asked.

   "Nothing.  This is my first flight, you know?"

   "Really?"

   "Yeah."

   "It's going to be fine," I said, trying to be reassuring.  "Nothing to
worry about."

   "I really love you," she said finally as we neared the departure gate. I
turned and smiled.

   "I love you too," I answered.  We drove on in silence, but suddenly all
I could think of was the possibility of joining the Mile High club.

   *****

   "Oh my God," Heather moaned loudly enough for our fellow passengers to
hear.  "No one told me it would be like this!"

   I looked over in alarm to where she was sitting.  She had her face
cradled in her hands and was rocking back and forth in her seat.

   "Are you okay?" I asked, suddenly concerned.  Heather had seemed fine
during takeoff, but ever since the seat belt sign had been turned off she
had seemed antsy.  She didn't look pale to me, but her actions seemed to
say otherwise, and I wasn't going to argue with a potentially sick
girlfriend.

   "I think I'm going to puke," she said, glancing at me for help.

   "Hang on," I said, pawing through the magazines in the seat in front of
me.  "Shit," I swore.  "There aren't any barf ba...  any air sickness bags
here." I turned to Heather who seemed to be on the verge of saying
something when one of the flight attendants walked down the aisle towards
us.

   "Is everything okay?" the young woman asked in a pleasant voice, her
face showing immediate concern when she saw the state Heather appeared to
be in.  "Oh my...  how do you feel?"

   "Not good," Heather mumbled.

   "There aren't any bags," I said quietly to the attendant.  "I think I
need to get her to the bathroom."

   "Certainly," the woman nodded immediately.

   I helped Heather into the narrow aisle, holding her shoulders as I
followed her toward the small bathroom.  I saw Dr.  Bergerud look up in
concern from the other side of the plane, but I shook my head to tell him
everything was fine.

   "I'll be right out here," I gently told Heather, nodding to the
attendant who left after handing me a couple of damp, warm towels.

   "Oh God," Heather moaned and I quickly turned my attentions to my
girlfriend who was now kneeling on the cool floor of the tiny room.

   "How are you?" I asked softly.  Heather turned to answer, but the
miserable expression on her face told me everything I needed to know. 
"It's okay," I said, rubbing her back through the thin sweater she had
elected to wear on the chilly airplane.

   "I feel terrible," Heather moaned.

   "Just...  just let it go," I said, indicating the stainless steel
toilet. I held Heather's long curls away from the toilet, trying to ignore
the heaving sounds as Heather lost what little breakfast she had eaten that
morning.

   Thankful for the damp washcloths, I wiped the perspiration from
Heather's forehead before washing her face clean.  She stood a bit shakily,
grabbing my hand as we exited the restroom.

   "Better?" I asked quietly as we returned to our seats.

   "A little," she shrugged, seemingly embarrassed by the looks of concern
she was receiving from those seated around us.

   The same flight attendant brought over a small can of ginger ale and a
package of crackers, which Heather started to refuse.

   "Take them," I whispered softly.  "They'll do you a lot of good right
now."

   Heather grudgingly accepted the food and began nibbling at the crackers
while taking small sips of the soda.  When she finished the small meal
Heather leaned against me, the exhaustion on her face evident.

   "Time for a nap?" I asked, curious to see if she would be able to. 
During my years of touring with my college's choir, I had taken many plane
rides but had never been able to sleep well.

   Heather nodded, and to my relief and a bit of envy, she was quickly
asleep.

   *****

   Eventually I too was able to get some rest, but as always my sleep was
light and interrupted by any mechanical sound I heard.  But it was still a
surprise when I felt myself roused from my sleep by a gentle tapping on my
leg.

   "Shh," Heather whispered.  I opened my eyes to find I could see nothing
but pitch black - the plane had apparently flown into darkness and the
cabin lights were turned off.

   "Heather?" I answered.  "Are you okay?"

   "I'm fine," she answered.  "I didn't mean to wake you up."

   "It's okay.  What time is it?"

   "I don't know.  I put my watch in my bag under the seat."

   "Still cold?" I asked when I saw Heather had grabbed one of the blankets
from the overhead compartment at some point.

   "Actually I'm a little warm," she admitted.  "That's why I woke you up."

   "We don't need the blanket," I said, noticing it was thrown over my legs
more than hers.

   "That's not what I meant," she giggled softly, reaching out to grab my
wrist.  She pulled my hand under the blanket and between her thighs.  "I'm
really kind of hot," she said.  "Can't you tell?"

   I could.

   Even before I reached the juncture of her legs, I could feel the heat
from her pussy radiating upward toward my hand.  The circulation and
recycling of the air throughout the cabin kept me from smelling Heather's
arousal, but when my fingers found her pubic hair already soaked with her
slick juices there was no doubt as to her excitement level.

   "I'm so wet," Heather blushed.  "I keep hearing about people joining the
Mile High club and I got so excited." Heather leaned close, pressing my
hand firmly against her wet crotch.  I flexed my fingers once, sliding over
her slippery flesh before burying my index finger in her warmth.

   "What do you want to do?" I asked, my voice nearly cracking as I
whispered into the darkness.  My cock was instantly hard, my heart pounding
in my chest as I imagined the possibilities.  I had read stories and heard
rumors about the Mile High club, but most of what I had heard was totally
unbelievable.

   Tales of wild fucking in the bathroom seemed impossible, especially
since I knew firsthand just how small this one was and how close the rest
of the passengers really were.  I had heard rumors of people screwing
underneath a blanket similar to what was now draped over my lap, but even
that seemed impossible.  Was that what Heather had in mind?  How were we
supposed to do it?

   Before I could mention any of this Heather grinned and pushed my hand
away from her boiling pussy.

   "What?" was all I managed to get out before Heather dropped her head,
winking as she pulled the blanket from my lap.

   "Lift your hips," she whispered and I felt her fingers beginning to
struggle with my belt.  Suddenly the belt was undone, followed quickly by
the waistband and zipper of my jeans.

   I obediently lifted my hips and quickly Heather pushed my jeans and
underwear down around my knees, freeing my erection, which obediently
popped into the air, stiff and ready.

   "Try not to make too much noise," she giggled softly before leaning down
and taking my length in her hot, wet mouth.  Realizing where she was headed
I grabbed a corner of the blanket and pulled it over my lap, covering my
nakedness as well as her position.

   I grabbed hold of the arm rests with both hands, making fists as I tried
not to cry out.  Heather' head was bobbing up and down furiously in my lap
and through the blanket I could hear soft wet slurping noises as her lips
and tongue played over my hot flesh.

   I closed my eyes tight before realizing I alone could watch for anyone
who might see us and quickly opened them, glancing around nervously.  The
other passengers seemed to be sleeping, but I was nervous about a flight
attendant - perhaps the helpful one from earlier on the flight - checking
to see how we were doing.

   "Oh fuck," I hissed as Heather began applying heavy suction to the head
of my prick.  Her hand was wrapped around my balls, gently squeezing in
time with her sucking and I knew my time was soon approaching.  To my
dismay Heather pulled her mouth away from my cock and grinned at me.

   "Good?" she asked.

   "Hurry up," I moaned.  As soon as Heather once again dropped her open
mouth to my erection I again covered her head with the blanket and reached
out my right hand and slipped it between Heather's legs.  Her juices were
flowing freely from her pussy, coating the insides of her thighs with
sticky fluid.  I simply followed the trail to the source and with my hand
already well-lubricated, plunged three fingers inside her dripping snatch.

   "Humph," she moaned around my cock as I penetrated her sticky center. 
As I began a steady thrusting motion Heather sped her movements around my
prick.  I used my thumb to strum a quick rhythm on Heather's clit, trying
to bring her to her own orgasm.

   Unable to hold off any longer I thrust my hips against Heather's mouth
as a river of sperm flowed from my cock.  She choked softly as the first
spurt erupted but quickly began swallowing my seed.

   Her hips were flexing against my hand in time to the muscles in her
throat contracting around my prick and as my orgasm dwindled I felt
Heather's pussy clench around my fingers.  Realizing her time had arrived I
began tickling the inside of her walls with my fingers, dragging my nails
lightly over the rough patch of skin that was her most sensitive spot.

   Heather froze momentarily and the thought occurred to me that if she
fought to stifle a cry my prick - soft now but still encased in her mouth -
might be in danger.  Happily Heather's climax caused no such troubles
although her legs did spasm and hit the back of the seat in front of us. 
Luckily no one seemed to notice.

   "Wow," Heather whispered as I slowly brought her down from her orgasm.
To my surprise she grabbed my hand away from her pussy and licked her
juices from my fingers, savoring each digit as she licked up her sticky
secretions.

   The visual was nearly enough to bring my prick back to life, but I was
spent for the moment and quickly felt myself tiring.

   We cuddled together under the blanket and were quickly asleep.

   *****

   I was awakened by a rough shaking on my shoulder, and not for the first
time wondered why I was never the first one awake.  Grumbling like I
normally do when aroused from a deep sleep I slowly opened my eyes to see
who the disturber of my sleep was this time.

   "What?" I asked when I saw it was Dr.  Bergerud.  I was perhaps a bit
more gruff than I should have been, but in my mind he deserved it.

   "Come on," he said, shaking me a bit more roughly and I immediately
thought of my father.  Never one to coddle a sleeping person, I generally
figured myself to be lucky while growing up if my father simply called my
name as opposed to grabbing the sheets and pulling my pillow out from under
my head in order to wake me up.

   "We're there," he laughed.  "Heather's already climbed over you, so get
up," he said, slapping my knee.  I grumbled a bit more but finally pulled
myself out of the uncomfortably small airplane seat and grabbed my small
bag.

   Still wiping the sleep out of my eyes I staggered after the rest of our
group.  Dr.  Bergerud held back to wait for me while the three women went
on ahead.  I watched them for a moment before hurrying after them.

   "Pretty amazing," I said.

   "What is?" Dr.  Bergerud responded.

   "Your wife and daughter.  If I didn't know which was which, I think you
could have convinced me the two were sisters."

   "They're a lot a like," he said, nodding his head.  "In lots of
different ways."

   "What do you mean?" I asked.

   "Just...  lots of different ways," he replied.  "Come on, let's go get
the luggage and try to get to our hotel before lunch."

   Our plane had landed at a little after ten o'clock in the morning, but
my body - even with the sleep I'd had on the plane - was letting me know
that more rest would be in order before I would feel normal.

   "Can't do it," was Stacey's response.  "If you sleep now, you'll just be
messed up the rest of the trip."

   "But it's not even noon yet," I protested.  "I'm going to keel over from
exhaustion long before bedtime."

   "Nonsense," Katie giggled.  "I'm sure Heather will think of something to
keep you up, if you know what I mean."

   Heather and I shared a small grin, but I was surprised when Stacey
jumped into the conversation.

   "Katie," she said harshly.  "That's enough of that kind of talk."

   "Yes," interjected Dr.  Bergerud.  "Apologize this instant."

   "Sorry, Sir," Katie mumbled quietly before turning to where Heather and
I were standing.  "I'm sorry, guys."

   "That's okay," said Heather while I nodded my agreement.  "It's fine."

   The previously good mood was only slightly lessened as the five of us
stood waiting to retrieve our luggage.  Apparently Swedish airports are
much more efficient than American airports generally are, and it was but a
matter of five or six minutes before our luggage came rolling past us.

   "That's mine!" Heather shouted, reaching to grab her smaller suitcase,
the transport of which had cost us a few extra dollars.

   "Careful," I said, leaning close to whisper in her ear.  "Wouldn't want
everyone to see what a couple of perverts we are."

   Heather responded by elbowing me in the gut before turning to laugh.

   "No chance of that," she grinned.  "Stacey and Katie each had some extra
room in their carry-on luggage, so we swapped some stuff out."

   "So you're saying that..."

   "Our toys were with us on the plane," she grinned impishly.

   "What?" I asked in amazement.  "What if..."

   "Sorry I didn't tell you," she giggled.  "Did you want to play earlier?"

   "Not a bit," I said and hurried to catch up with the Bergerud family. 
Our bags had all arrived and we were now headed out to find a cab to take
us to the hotel the conference had set up for us.

   The World Choral Symposium is - as the name implies - a major
international choral event.  The Symposium is held every three years, each
time in a different world city and hosted by that city's top choral
organizations.  Clinicians come from around the world to give workshops and
there are numerous educational opportunities, but the top attractions for
most of the attendees are the concerts given each day.  Any choir from
around the world can apply to perform, so the screening process is
incredibly intense, and those selected truly are the cream of the choral
world.

   I knew that years before at either the fourth or fifth Symposium, Dr. 
Bergerud had taken a group to perform, and he had always looked at that
event as one of his major achievements.  It occurred to me that he was
attending this Symposium solely as an observer, and asked why he still
wanted to come.

   "Oh, many reasons, I guess," he said while the girls tried to hail a
cab. As efficient as the airport had been at getting our luggage, it
appeared the cab drivers in Stockholm were much the same as those in other
cities - never around when you needed one.

   "Like what?" I asked.  I knew it was going to be a fun time, but
wondered why the professor wasn't more excited to take three months off
away from work.

   "I'm getting old, Daniel.  I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to
teach at the University."

   "What?" I asked.  This was completely unexpected news.  "When?  Why? 
You're retiring?"

   "Not right now," he explained.  "But probably soon.  I've been teaching
here for more than twenty years and I think I'm ready for a change."

   "But retirement?" I asked again.

   "No!  At least not yet.  I think I want to try my hand at being more of
a teacher, as opposed to a lecturer."

   "What's the difference?" I asked, becoming a bit confused.  "You teach
now."

   "Not really," he shrugged.  "What I do now is mainly read aloud in front
of a class of kids who really don't want to be there.  Do you know what the
best part of my day is, almost every day?" he asked.

   "Lunch?" I joked.

   "Okay, the second best part of the day?"

   "What?"

   "Seeing you walk in the office."

   "Aww," I said.  "I didn't know you cared."

   "Twit," he laughed.  "It's not that, it's that you still care.  I can
tell."

   "What do you mean?"

   "You're not jaded.  You're still excited about teaching.  In between
having to lecture in front of two hundred students and dealing with college
politics, I've lost some of my excitement."

   "So if you're not retiring, then what are you planning on doing?"

   "High school."

   "Really?  You think you'd like that?"

   "It was always my goal," he admitted.

   "Then how did you end up teaching college?" I asked.  "Why not find some
school looking for a music teacher and apply?"

   "I wanted to," he said wistfully.

   "Something happened?" I asked.

   "Yes," he said, nodding his head.

   "What?"

   "Someday maybe I'll tell you," the professor answered simply.  Before I
could ask more questions our conversation was interrupted by the squeals of
the girls, who had managed - finally - to hail a cab, although as Katie
said, "we only had to flash our boobs twice to get him to pull over."

   I wanted to ask the professor more about his plans, and wondered at his
recent bouts of mysterious comments and secrecy, but soon my questions were
forgotten as I watched the city slide past me through the cab windows.

   *****

   When we arrived at the hotel I was mildly surprised to find that Katie
would be sharing a room with her parents, while Heather and I were
fortunate enough to have a room to ourselves.  The two rooms were part of a
larger suite, the bedrooms - each with their own bathroom - both attached
to a central gathering space.  The suite appeared to have been designed for
a family, as there were no doors between rooms, only a thin curtain.

   "Don't you think Dr.  Bergerud and Stacey might want some time
together?" I asked Heather quietly.

   "You mean some personal time?" she grinned back.

   "Something like that," I laughed.  "I guess I'd just thought that she
would have her own room or something."

   "Did you want to invite her over?" Heather asked slyly.  "We could you
know.  It would give her parents some time alone and besides, Katie seems
pretty nice to me."

   "She is," I answered.

   "Oh really?" Heather asked archly.  "And just what do you mean by that?
Are you trying to get her into bed?"

   "You know what I'm talking about," I said, trying not to turn crimson
with embarrassment.  "She helped out at school around the office and I have
to say it was great having her around instead of that substitute beast the
school arranged." I shivered with the memory of the horror.  "Besides,
you're the one who was so quick to invite her over!"

   "I was, wasn't I?" grinned Heather.  "You know, it's not a bad idea."

   "What isn't?" I asked carefully, remembering Heather's hint at a
threesome.

   "Inviting her over.  I'm sure the three of us could have some fun."

   "Fun?"

   "You know...  fun!" Heather leered.  "You know you think she's cute."

   "I...  I don't," I stammered but Heather cut me off with a quick kiss.

   "I do too," she said hotly and before I could respond Heather twirled
and walked away.

   *****

   The first two days of the Symposium were, for lack of a better word,
boring.  I had expected there to be more concert opportunities to attend,
and ended up being stuck listening to lecture after lecture instead.  Dr.
Bergerud himself commented that it wasn't quite as good as he remembered.

   "You should have been to the Symposium in Minneapolis," he commented
after one particularly dry lecture on atonal harmonies, which I had always
thought was an impossibility.  If a piece of music is atonal, it has no
melody, so how can there be harmony?

   "Why?" I asked.  "What was so good about it?"

   "There was a children's choir, from Bulgaria if I remember correctly. 
Magnificent!" He looked off wistfully into the distance, obviously
enraptured by the sheer memory.  Unable to help myself I burst into
laughter, drawing looks of disapproval from those around us.

   "Sorry," I said as I tried to rein in my giggles.  "You just looked
so... so happy!"

   "It was really good," he said.  "But you're probably right, I do tend to
go a little overboard with my praise."

   "Nah, that's okay," I shrugged.  "It's cool to see you so excited about
something.  If you don't mind me saying, you seemed a little burned out
toward the end of the school year."

   "I was," he signed.

   "Are you really thinking about leaving?" I asked.

   "Considering it," he said, nodding his head.  "I'm not sure though. 
I'll certainly be around for at least another year."

   "Good," I answered.  "I'd hate for you to leave before I get my degree."

   "That was something I wanted to discuss with you," Dr.  Bergerud said.

   "What do you mean?  Is there something wrong?"

   "No, no.  I just...  you do know that I've been at the University for
quite a long time, correct?"

   "Sure."

   "And that I am well-respected?"

   "I've never quite understood that," I joked.  "But I hear it's the
truth. Go on."

   "Twit," Dr.  Bergerud huffed.  "Maybe I don't want you..."

   "Want me to what?"

   "Daniel, I would like you to consider taking my position when I leave."

   "What?" I said in stunned amazement.  "You want me to...  what?" When I
had decided to return to school to earn my master's degree, I had done so
with an idea that I might go into teaching, but nothing had ever really
been settled in my mind.

   "Is that a problem?" he asked.

   "Do you...  are you sure?  Why?  Do you think I can handle something
like this?" I looked at him in something close to shock.  "Why?"

   "I tease you a lot, and I know I put you through quite an ordeal this
last year.  Trust me, I've never had a graduate assistant as well-prepared
as you, and I've never treated one so poorly as I have you."

   "What do you mean?  I thought it was okay.  Really busy, but doable."

   "That's what I mean.  Normally my graduate assistants will take a single
section of beginning music theory or history.  Didn't you think it odd that
you were teaching, or at least in charge of almost half my classes?"

   "You're a busy guy," I answered lamely, realizing belatedly that he was
right.  He had kept me busy, far busier than I'd expected.  "I suppose I
should ask for a raise, then?"

   "You deserve one, trust me," he agreed.  "That's part of the reason I
invited you on this trip.  First, it's a good experience, but second, I
think you needed a break and I felt it only right that the school paid for
it."

   "And you can do that?  Just like that?"

   "I do have some sway in the music department," he answered smugly.

   "That's because you're the department chair," I laughed, before a
thought occurred to me.  "Wait a minute, when you said you wanted me to
replace you, you didn't mean..."

   "No, certainly not that," he laughed.

   "Good," I sighed.

   "At least, not at first.  I certainly didn't start out that way."

   "How did you start?" I asked, curious to hear his history.  Dr. 
Bergerud had been mysterious about his past, and I hoped he might fill in
the blanks for me.  "Why did you come here?"

   "I had little choice," he said sadly.  "I...  when I was younger I found
myself in a compromising position and was forced to leave my job teaching
middle school music."

   "What happened?"

   "Nothing really.  Something happened with a student."

   "What kind of something?" I asked, more curious now than ever.

   "Something that placed me in an awkward position," he answered.  "No,
it's not what you're thinking.  I didn't touch a student.  I was...  well,
you don't need any details, but suffice it to say I wasn't always the
clean-cut, distinguished gentleman I am now."

   "Some might even argue that you're a gentleman now!" I laughed.  "But
what happened?  So you didn't get caught with your pants down...  what?"

   "I used to host an annual Halloween party at my house, and one day one
of my students found...  a certain book."

   "Something kinky?"

   "Yes."

   "Is that how you met your wife?" I asked.  "I know she works with
Heather at the club."

   "No," he laughed.  "Nothing like that.  We didn't meet for another ten
years or so, after I started teaching at the University."

   "Then what?"

   "I'm not going to go into details, but I was fired from my middle school
position and only the fact the school district itself wanted to keep the
scandal quiet allowed me to find a job so quickly."

   "And you want to go back to teaching kids?" I asked incredulously. 
"Will that be allowed?"

   "I was never charged with anything at all, and it's only because I've
loved my position at the college so much that's kept me here.  I would have
gone back to teaching middle school or high school music long ago."

   "Wow," I said.  "I don't know what to say."

   "No need to say anything," Dr.  Bergerud shrugged.  "Daniel, I trust
you'll keep this conversation private?"

   "Of course," I quickly answered.  "But...  I do have a question."

   "Yes?"

   "Why me?" I asked.  "I don't have any teaching experience, so why do you
think I can do it?"

   Dr.  Bergerud sat quietly for a moment before answering.

   "Because I see a lot of myself in you.  I see the same drive and energy,
even if you yourself don't always recognize it.  I see an excellent teacher
inside you.  All you need is a chance."

   "And you think this is that chance?"

   "The school and faculty know you.  You're popular with the students. 
You went to the school and live in the area.  I can't think of a better
opportunity," he answered.

   "Wow," I said again, unable to form any type of coherent sentence. 
"Thanks.  I mean...  I'm not accepting anything," I sputtered.

   "And you haven't been offered anything yet," he laughed.  "Just... 
consider the possibility.  One must always be open to new and interesting
possibilities," he trailed off quietly, again looking off into the
distance.

   "Uh...  sure," I answered.  "Thanks."

   Dr.  Bergerud shook his head suddenly, a smile growing on his face as he
reached out to slap me on the shoulder.

   "That's all I ask," he said.  The two of us had been standing in the
main lobby of the opera house, now nearly deserted after the last session
of the day.  I looked at my watch and saw it was well after seven o'clock.

   "What now?" I asked.  "Are we coming back for the evening concert?"

   "Do you want to?" he asked.

   "Not really," I said.  "Is that okay?"

   "Certainly!" he laughed.  "We're on our own schedule here.  No board of
trustees looking over our shoulders.  You feel like playing hooky tonight?"

   "Yes!" I answered quickly, relieved to have a free evening.

   "Good," he said.  The two of us quickly gathered our belongings and
hurried out of the building.  After a short walk back to the hotel and a
quick ride on the elevator we were at the front door to our suite.

   "Damn," he muttered, patting his pockets.  "Did I wear a coat this
morning?  I can't find my keys anywhere." Not waiting for an answer he
rapped his knuckles loudly against the door.

   "I've got mine," I said, inserting the key in the lock.  As the door
opened I heard a sharp cry and a scurrying of feet.

   "Honey, I'm home!" I called out laughingly, expecting to hear Heather
reply.  Instead there was only silence.

   "Where is everyone?" Dr.  Bergerud asked.  He sighed and turned to
leave. "I'm going to head back to the concert hall to pick up my keys."

   "See you in a few," I answered.

   I pushed the door inward only to find a darkened living room.  I checked
the room Heather and I were sharing, but it too was dark, leaving only Dr.
Bergerud's room.

   A sliver of light shone from under the curtain.  I pulled the curtain
aside and stood dumbfounded at what I saw.  There lay Stacey, Dr. 
Bergerud's wife, tied up and gagged in the middle of the bed.  She was
naked, a deep pink flush spreading over her chest and neck.  Her forehead
was beaded with sweat, which was dripping down onto the black mask covering
her eyes.

   A red plastic ball gag was forced in her mouth and I could see the
muscles of her jaw straining around it with each breath.  Her breathing was
ragged as she fought against what appeared to be fur-lined handcuffs
securing her to the sturdy wooden frame of the hotel bed.

   Hovering over her, a delirious look in her eyes, stood Heather.  She too
was naked and to my shock was holding a leather riding crop in her right
hand, held above her head in obvious preparation to bring down on Stacey's
pale skin.  Heather's left hand held a pink vibrator, its buzzing rising
and falling in intensity as she buried the dildo repeatedly in her pussy.
Even from the doorway I could hear the furious sucking sound as she thrust
the fake plastic penis into her wetness.

   "What the hell?" I blurted.  Heather turned, the look of passion on her
face quickly evaporating into surprise and then fear as she saw the look of
horror on my face.

   Without another word I turned and strode out of the room, my heart
pounding heavily in my chest.  On my way I bumped into Katie, who was in
the process of buttoning up a blouse, apparently in order to answer the
door.

   "Hey Dan," she said nervously, turning to look into the doorway.  I saw
a look of anxiety flicker over her features as she saw the scene I had been
presented with.  "What's up?" she asked, but I shook my head in anger.

   "Move," I said, pushing past her into the dimly lit corridor.

   I turned left immediately, wanting to take the stairs down to street
level.  Once in the stairwell I felt myself grow short of breath and
stopped in the middle of the hallway.  I leaned against a brick wall, the
cool texture of the damp concrete pressing against my forehead.

   Had I really seen what I thought I had seen?  The bedroom had been dark,
but there had been enough light shining through the window that I was
certain I was right.

   Heather had certainly hinted enough about an interest in girls and I
squinted my eyes in disappointment that I hadn't seen her hints for what
they really were.  Shaking my head in an attempt to dislodge the image from
my head I continued down the stairs and out into the warm Swedish evening.

   Not wanting to meet Dr.  Bergerud on his way back to the hotel, I turned
the opposite direction and began walking aimlessly through Stockholm.  As I
walked along the river I suddenly found myself in the city's brothel
district, and for a moment considered taking out my anxiety and angst by
hiring a hooker for a quick romp, but put the thought out of my head.

   After an hour or two my anger had mostly dissipated and I began working
my way back to the hotel.  Unsure as to what I might find I carefully
unlocked the door.  The lights were off in the main room and I noticed
immediately that the curtain was pulled tightly across the entryway into
the Bergerud's sleeping room.  I wondered briefly if I might be left alone
for the evening, but when I pulled the curtain aside and looked into the
room Heather and I were sharing I saw that was not the case.

   "You were home early," Heather said softly, although I wasn't sure if
that was supposed to be an apology or an excuse for catching her in her
activities.  Either way, she looked miserable, cuddled up on the bed,
wrapped in a blanket.  I could see the tear tracks on her cheeks and for a
moment all I wanted to do was take her in my arms to comfort her.

   But then a flash of anger hit me and once again I felt myself grow cold
at the memory of her betrayal.  What gave her the right to use me like
this?

   "I'll be in the living room," I said harshly, grabbing a pillow and
blanket from the bed, not caring if I disturbed Heather as she sat there.
"If you want to talk, you know where to find me."

   The sight of Heather, crumpled over on the bed, sobs wracking her
shoulders was the last thing I saw as I turned to the living room.  I
wasn't proud of myself, but I had done what I thought was right. 
Unfortunately sleep was slow in coming that evening.  I stayed awake,
hoping in a part of my mind that Heather might make an appearance, but she
stayed in our room.

   Eventually, finally, I fell asleep.

   Part Nine

   "Leave me alone," I groaned again, trying to ignore the pounding on my
door.  All I wanted at this point was to be left alone, but Natalie didn't
seem like she was taking the hint all that well, as the pounding continued.
"I don't want to talk right now," I said.  "Just go away!"

   As I had assumed would be the case, the knocking continued for a few
more seconds.  A pause, waiting for my answer followed quickly by the
veiled threat, muffled through the bedroom door, that I would have to come
out sometime.

   "You can't stay in there forever, you know!" my sister said.  Finally, I
heard her footsteps heading away from my room and I leaned back in bed,
thankful for the solitude, temporary though I knew it would be.

   I looked to the clock by my head, seeing that it was close to
dinnertime, trying to remember exactly when I had last eaten anything
substantial.  I knew I had eaten breakfast the morning before, and I was
pretty sure I'd eaten a sandwich sometime around midnight, after everyone
else was sleeping.  That was it as far as meals, and other than the
occasional piece of gum or candy bar my recent diet had consisted of soda
and the jar of peanut butter I had secreted into my room.

   Ever since the disastrous trip to Europe, I had shut myself off from the
rest of the world.  I was losing weight, losing sleep and there were times
I felt I was very possibly losing my mind.  I wondered where it had all
gone wrong.  I knew when our problems had come to a head, of course.  That
fateful evening in Sweden was forever etched in my memory, of that I had no
doubt.  No, I knew what the problem was, I just didn't know how to fix it.
I had tried, but even though my intentions had been good, things didn't go
as planned.

   The morning after I had walked in on Heather and Stacey, Heather and I
had sat down and tried to hash out what had occurred.  We had attempted to
discuss, with some semblance of civility, just what was happening between
us, but the conversation had not been pretty in the least.

   Although we tried to be adult about things, and the attempt had started
out calmly enough on both our parts, the discussion soon degenerated into
something much uglier and much more hateful.  It was almost more of a
shouting match, and I'm sad to say that most of that came from me.  I just
couldn't understand why Heather had done what she had done, how she felt it
was okay to sleep with another woman, and her answers were maddening to me,
so I lashed out.

   "Why do you have to act like such a whore?" I had shouted, after Heather
once again professed surprise at my outrage.  A sinking feeling came over
her as I saw Heather's reaction to my accusation, and I cringed.  I opened
my voice to apologize, since even without Heather's hurt look I would have
regretted saying the words almost as soon as they escaped my lips, but it
was too late.  The damage was done.

   "What?" Heather had asked tearfully, looking up at me from where she was
lying, slumped and crying on the hotel sofa.

   "I don't understand what's happening," I said, trying to back away from
my accusation.  "What happened...  you've changed."

   "Did you call me a whore?" Heather asked, her shoulders shaking as she
fought back tears, and more than a little bit of anger, I imagine.

   "I didn't mean it like that," I said helplessly.  "I just..."

   "You just what?" Heather asked quietly.  Her voice was tense with anger
and I wanted to kick myself for not thinking before I spoke as she
continued.  "You didn't like all the things we did?  You didn't like it
when we tried new things?  I was doing this for you!"

   "Doing what for me?" I asked incredulously, my shame evaporating as my
outrage and shock came quickly to the forefront.  I stood up in a fit of
stunned surprise.  "Cramming a plastic cock up inside you while eating out
my boss' wife?  Whipping me while I'm tied up in bed?  Trying to do...  God
knows what else to me!  What the hell was that?" I asked loudly, glad that
Dr.  Bergerud and his family had seen fit to leave the two of us alone, at
least for a few hours.  Their hope had been, I believe, to give Heather and
I some time to work out our issues, but that was obviously nowhere close to
happening.

   "I told you..." Heather stammered.

   "Oh, right!  You were doing it for me.  How thoughtful of you.  Remind
me to never ask you for a favor, okay?"

   Disgusted beyond measure now, sick that Heather was somehow trying to
turn her behavior into something she was doing for us, I turned to leave
the hotel room.  I was planning on taking another walk, hoping to cool off
a little.  Still, it came as a surprise when I heard Heather call after me,
her voice full of venom.

   "Daniel!" she shouted.  I paused, hoping somewhat presumptuously that an
apology might be forthcoming.

   "What?" I asked, realizing I was wrong as I turned and through her tears
could see the look of pure fury on her face.

   "Fuck you."

   Sighing, wondering again just when everything had gone so wrong and how
I had possibly missed the signs, I pulled on my coat and left the hotel,
slamming the door behind me as I exited.

   *****

   The Choral Symposium was over two days after our spat, a short span of
time on the clock that was without a doubt the most unbearable I'd ever
experienced.  I never again attempted to broach the subject with Heather,
and I could see she had no intention of doing so either.  Our last days
were frosty to say the least, most of our time spent in avoiding the
situation.  That proved simple during the day, but could have potentially
posed a serious problem at night, as the two of us had been sharing the
same hotel bed.

   Fortunately, the suite had a sofa large enough for me, and I spent two
restless nights on a lumpy hideaway bed, thankful for every painful second
away from the girl I had loved.

   Yes, loved, as in past tense.  After what had happened, what I had seen,
I didn't imagine there was any way I could ever feel the same about Heather
as I had before the trip.  I tried to rationalize my feelings, telling
myself how lucky it was the two of us had been "together" for less than a
year, but deep inside I knew I didn't buy it.  It hurt.

   I tried to tell myself I was better off finding out now what kind of a
person Heather was, as opposed to six months down the road.  What if I had
proposed?  The though had occurred to me to buy a ring before the trip, and
find a nice quiet moment here in Sweden to ask her to marry me, but I
chickened out at the last moment and considered myself all the luckier for
my cold feet.

   Now, I knew the chances of the two of us ever ending up together, much
less remaining friends, were incredibly slim.  It would take a world of
heartfelt apologies before I would consider bringing Heather back into my
life.

   The long plane ride from Sweden to the United States, far from being the
exciting, happy time we had enjoyed only a week earlier, was tense, quiet
and uncomfortable for both of us.  Fortunately Dr.  Bergerud could sense
our mutual distress and offered to switch seats with Heather.

   I did my best to bottle up what I was feeling inside, but my mentor has
a way of bringing out all kinds of emotions I had tried to hide, and I soon
found myself tearfully spilling my guts as the plane hurtled westward
toward home.

   "I just don't get it," I confessed quietly, wiping my eyes far more
often than I felt was necessary.  I mean, I was over her, right?  So why
was I all choked up?  "What was she doing that for?" I asked helplessly.

   Dr.  Bergerud looked over at me, apparently judging my emotional
stability for a moment before answering.

   "What does she say about it?" he replied.  "Why did Heather say she was
doing it?" I hated the teacher in him at that moment, forever answering a
question with a question of his own, and I struggled to come up with an
appropriate answer.

   "I don't know," I finally sighed.  "She kept giving me this lame excuse
that it was for us.  She was doing it for the two of us, she said."

   "You said that," he reminded me gently.  "But you think she was lying?"

   "How could she not be?" I asked in amazement, confused that Dr. 
Bergerud seemed to be taking Heather's side in the argument.  I realized I
was even more amazed that he seemed to be just as calm about the fact that
it was his own wife my girlfriend had been in bed with.  "How could that
possibly have been for us?"

   "Didn't you tell me once that Heather was convinced that all men were
infatuated with the idea of a threesome?"

   "Yeah, so?"

   "Maybe she was trying to find the right person to bring into your bed,"
Dr.  Bergerud suggested.

   "She was fucking your wife!" I said, a little too loudly.  I grimaced as
I saw a flight attendant stir from her seat near the front of the plane. 
Fortunately, our seats were nowhere close to the first class section, so
I'm not sure she heard exactly what I said, but it was obvious that she was
certain I had said it too loudly.  She made a shushing motion with her
finger and I nodded sheepishly.  Properly chastised I turned to my
professor and quietly repeated what I had said earlier.  "She was fucking
your wife."

   What Dr.  Bergerud said next boggled my mind.

   "That's her business," he shrugged.  "None of mine."

   "What?" I asked, after pausing for what seemed like minutes.  "How is
that none of your business?" I looked in confusion at the person sitting
next to me, wondering - not for the first time - if one night while I was
sleeping everyone I knew had been replaced by an alien.  Heather, Stacey,
Katie and now Dr.  Bergerud.  No one was making sense except me.

   "It's not," he said, smiling gently at my obvious confusion.  "My wife
and I have a...  how to put it...  a decidedly open relationship."

   "You mean..."

   "We have an open relationship," he repeated, obviously not wanting to go
any further.  Headless of his wishes, I charged straight ahead with my next
question.

   "You mean the two of you just screw anyone you want?"

   "Not quite," he said.  "We have boundaries just like any other couple,
but they're...  a bit further apart than for most."

   "How far do they go?" I asked, curious as to what I might find out about
my mentor.

   "I'm not sure I really want to..." Dr.  Bergerud started, but I
interrupted before he could finish.

   "Is your daughter included in your fun?" I asked.  "Have you fucked
Katie?" I whispered.  I remembered how surprised and, in my mind at least,
guilty, Katie had appeared when I arrived back at the hotel that night,
obviously much earlier than expected.  She hadn't appeared shocked at what
was going on in the bedroom, just that I had witnessed it.

   I had no proof, but I was certain Katie had been involved with Heather,
and Stacey.  Stacey is her mother!  my conscience screamed at me, but to my
surprise I didn't feel the shock I expected at the sudden realization that
mother and daughter may have been intimate together.

   Truth be told, I had been harboring suspicions for some time of Dr. 
Bergerud being somehow involved - and in a decidedly non-parental manner -
with his daughter.  Again, as with my suspicions of Stacey and Katie, I had
no proof of anything, but the entire family seemed...  a bit too close
somehow.

   "Yes," Dr.  Bergerud said, much to my amazement.  "Yes, Katie and I are
intimate.  Have been intimate," he corrected immediately.  "Used to be
intimate.  Once." As suspicious as I had been, I had never really expected
to receive an admission like that, and I didn't know what to say.

   "Really?" was all I could gasp out.  "The three of you..." Suddenly
nervous, I looked around, hoping no one else was hearing our hushed
conversation, but apparently no one else was awake at this time of what
passed for night on the plane.

   "No," he answered.  "The three of us don't."

   "Then what do you mean?" I asked, more confused than ever.

   "It's a long story," Dr.  Bergerud said.  "I don't know if..."

   "We're still five hours from New York," I pointed out.  "Come on, spill
it, whatever it is."

   Dr.  Bergerud sighed, looked at his watch quickly to confirm what I had
said.

   "Are you sure?" he asked, after coming to his decision.

   "Positive," I replied.  "Tell me everything." I sat back and listened in
amazement as Dr.  Bergerud told me the secrets of his life.  By the end of
his story I was more confused than ever, torn between running away from
what I felt was happening and confronting Heather with my real feelings and
making a plea to work out our differences.  In the end, I took the easier
route and avoided the conflict.

   *****

   It was now three weeks after I had arrived back from Europe.  Heather
and I had immediately realized that the two of us could in no way function
together as simple roommates, not after living together as lovers for so
many months, and I had, in a moment of good will, offered to give her some
room.  I had turned to the only people I could at that time, and returned
to my parents' home.

   My sister Natalie has always been the most perceptive member of my
family, and in this instance she proved frighteningly astute.  I hadn't
been home more than a day and a half before she cornered me in my room.

   "Spill it," she said, sitting down beside me on my bed.  It was two
o'clock in the afternoon, but I was still in bed, under the covers, trying
to hide from the world.

   "Go away," I said grumpily, trying to ignore Natalie's inquisitive
stare. "Go away," I repeated when she refused to budge from my side.

   "Nope," she said, shaking her head.  "Not until you tell me what's going
on."

   "I can't," I pleaded.  "I don't really know what happened." Receiving
nothing but a silent glare from my sister, I reluctantly began to tell
Natalie the story of my relationship with Heather.  I started from the very
beginning, leaving out the more private details, but revealing enough so
Natalie would understand both the depth of my feelings and the pain of the
betrayal.

   "Kinky," she said at one point, after I had glossed over Heather's
failed attempt to introduce me to the world of bondage.

   "Kinky?" I said.  "It hurt!"

   "So, she wasn't doing it right," Natalie laughed.  "You gave her a
second chace, didn't you?"

   "Hell no!" I said angrily.  "I don't understand what it was she thought
was so great about it.  I think it's that damn job of hers.  Something
weird is going on at that club.  I wonder now if she was screwing guys at
work the whole time was there."

   "Did you ask her about that?" my sister asked pointedly.

   "No," I said.

   "Why not?"

   "As if...  Hey, how's it going Heather?  Fuck anybody at work today?" I
asked mockingly.  "That would have gone over really well.  If she doesn't
want to tell me, so be it.  I'm done with her."

   "Oh, please!" my sister exclaimed.  "You're so not over her it's not
even funny.  Do you see what you're like right now?  How much you're
obsessing over her?  You love her, Daniel!"

   I just shook my head, amazed at how wrong my sister could be.  I was not
in love with Heather.  In fact, I probably never had been.  It must have
just been lust disguised as affection.

   "No," I swore.  "I don't think I was.  How could I have been so blind?
She was probably screwing guys left and right the whole time we were
dating. I wouldn't be surprised if Dr.  Bergerud and Heather were going at
it too," I practically shouted.  To my surprise, not only did I receive no
words of consolation, but Natalie reached out and slapped me across the
face.

   "Shut up!" she said.  "Listen to yourself, Daniel.  You sound like a
little brat."

   "What are you talking about?" I asked in amazement.  "You act like I'm
to blame somehow!"

   "You are," Natalie shrugged.  "At least on some level."

   "How?  Who's the one who cheated?"

   "She did," my sister said, nodding infuriatingly at me.  It was never
good when the two of us were arguing and Natalie started agreeing with me
on a certain point, because I knew she had something much bigger to
disagree with me, somewhere she thought I was clearly in the wrong.

   "So if she's the one who cheated, how is it my fault?" I asked.

   "What did you do about it?" my sister replied, a teacher in the making
as she answered my question with one of her own.

   "Nothing," I answered sullenly.  "What was there to do?"

   "You could have talked to her about it!" Natalie blurted out, throwing
up her arms in disgust.  "Jesus, Daniel!  How much of this could have been
avoided if the two of you would have just talked about it!"

   "What was there to talk about?" I asked.  I knew she was right, Natalie
generally is.  I wasn't sure that talking would have saved things between
Heather and I, but Natalie was right, we...  I...  should have behaved
better.

   "Everything," Natalie replied.  "You should have talked about
everything. You could have talked about her job, you could have talked
about your kinks...  her kinks, you could have talked about what happened
in Sweden, for goodness sake, instead of running away from it!"

   "Whatever," I grumbled.

   "Men!" my sister proclaimed loudly.  "Don't you get it?"

   "What?"

   "There was nothing wrong with your relationship that couldn't have been
fixed.  It was all about secrets.  You didn't like something, but you
didn't tell Heather.  Heather may have had something going on at work... 
yes, maybe...  but you don't know for sure, because you never asked her. 
Maybe something was going on, maybe not.  Then you walk in on her in bed
with someone else.  You didn't really talk about it, just screamed at each
other.  Daniel, it's all about secrets.  You just can't have secrets in a
relationship...  it's poison!"

   My sister sat back on her hands, rocking a bit as she looked at me for
some reaction.  I took a deep breath, thinking about what I was going to
say, knowing I was taking the conversation in a direction my sister was not
expecting.

   "What about your secrets?" I asked quietly.

   "I have no secrets," Natalie answered quickly.

   "What about Chris?" I asked.

   "I don't know," my sister answered after a short pause.  "What about
Chris?"

   "Oh, I don't know...  we've never met," I said.

   "It's a hassle," Natalie answered slowly.  "What with work and school
and everything..."

   "Yeah, yeah," I said.  "What's the mystery?  The two of you have been
going out for a while, right?"

   "Yeah.  I told you, we've been going out since before Christmas.  Why?"

   "Have Mom and Dad ever met her?" I asked.

   "I don't think so, but...  what?" Natalie asked abruptly, her mouth
closing quickly as she realized what I had asked and what she had
inadvertently revealed.  Her mouth gaped open noiselessly for a moment as
she tried to formulate an answer.  "I..."

   "Don't bother," I said, dismissing her with a wave of my hand.  "I know
all about your girlfriend."

   Natalie said nothing for a few long seconds, the look on her face equal
parts fear and relief.  It almost appeared she was as scared of what I
might say now that I knew, as she was thankful that her secret was finally
out in the open.

   I had wondered after seeing the two of them, Natalie and Chris - or
Christine, I wasn't sure - making out on our parents' couch on New Year's
Eve, if my parents were aware of their daughter's sexual inclination.  For
all I had known, I had been the only person out of the loop, so to speak,
in the entire family, but Natalie's silence was answer enough.  She had
told no one.

   "What do you know?" she asked quietly, the color slowly draining from
her face.

   "I know what I saw," I replied, too harshly I realized as Natalie slowly
drew away from me as if to flee the room.  "I'm sorry," I continued.  "I
heard someone come into the house last New Year's Eve.  I thought it was
Mom and Dad home early, and went to say hello, but it was the two of you.
It looked like you wanted some private time," I said with a shrug and a
small smile.

   "I'm so sorry..." my sister stammered as she reached up to wipe her
face. I could see tears forming in her eyes and that quickly my anger
dissipated and I turned into the protective older brother.

   "Hey, it's okay," I said, reaching out to wrap an arm around Natalie's
shoulders.  "Don't cry, please?"

   "What are Mom and Dad going to say?" she asked fearfully, suddenly my
scared little sister.

   "Nothing," I said, more confidently than I felt.  "I'm sure it will be
fine," I continued.  "You should really tell them.  No secrets, remember?"

   My sister snorted derisively.  She knew as well as I that everything
would not go as swimmingly as the picture I was painting.  Truth was, my
parents were very conservative people.  Not that they were racists or
homophobes by any stretch of the imagination, but I knew any announcement
from Natalie that she was a lesbian, or even that she was bisexual, if that
was the case, would be met with silent disapproval.  Not outright
hostility, of course, but their disappointment would be obvious, even if it
was never stated explicitly.

   "They'd just love that, wouldn't they?" Natalie said, her voice broken
with emotion as she reached out to hug me.  I wrapped her in my arms as
tightly as I could, trying to share some of her pain.

   "It'll be okay," I said softly.  "We'll work something out."

   "What are we going to do?" Natalie asked, her tear-streaked eyes looking
at me hopefully.

   "I don't know," I answered.  "We'll think of something."

   *****

   For better or worse, my sister's accidental "outing" to me acted, at
least momentarily, to take some of the pressure away from my life.  The
troubles Heather and I were having somehow seemed much less serious when
placed next to my sister's potential problems with our parents.  My sister,
to her credit, has more of the "fight" instinct inside of her, as opposed
to my natural inclination to "flee," and one Saturday near the end of
summer, Natalie called a family meeting.

   "What's going on?" my father asked me as the four of us walked into the
living room.  I shrugged, not wanting to steal any of the spotlight from
Natalie.  She hadn't said anything to me about it, but by the way my mother
and sister were walking side by side, their heads together in quiet
conversation, I was sure Natalie had already spoken to our mother.

   Finally the four of us were seated, Natalie and I sitting beside each
other on a love seat while our parents sat together on the sofa.  Looking
quickly at her watch, my sister stood and faced our parents.

   "I've...  I've been seeing someone for quite a while now," she started,
her eyes darting back and forth between our mother and father.  "And I've
been talking with Daniel, and...  he convinced me that it was about time
that you met Chris."

   "I didn't really do anything," I started to say, but Natalie cut me off.

   "He's right.  He didn't really push me into this, but something...  that
we talked about convinced me that this was the right thing to do."

   "Okay..." said our father, glancing curiously at Natalie and me. 
"When?"

   "Soon," my sister answered.  There was a moment's pause before the quiet
was broken by a slow tapping on the front door.  I glanced at my sister who
nodded quickly and I stood to answer.  I gave Natalie's hand a small
squeeze for reassurance as I passed her.  As I walked to the door I could
hear my sister start saying something more to our parents but by the time I
reached the door I was too far away to hear her actual words.

   "Hey," I said as I opened the door.  It was Chris, the girl I recognized
from the couch my parents were now sitting on.  "Come on in," I said.

   "Thanks," she answered shyly.  "Is Natalie around?"

   "She's in the living room," I said, stepping back so she could pass by
me in the narrow entryway.  "She's already talking to our parents."

   "Oh?" Chris replied with a bit of indifference.  Her attempted
nonchalance didn't fool me though and I tapped her lightly on the arm.

   "It's okay," I said.  "Natalie told me why you're here tonight.  Very
brave of you two," I said sincerely.  "I mean it."

   "She told you...  about us?" Chris said, her eyes wide in surprise. 
"When?"

   "Well...  I kind of figured it out on my own," I shrugged, not wanting
to go into more detail.

   "How?  When?" Chris asked.

   "Um...  New Year's Eve," I said, hoping that would be enough to jog her
memory.  It was.

   "Oh!" she blurted, blushing a light shade of pink.  Chris was a very
pretty girl and I wondered why she wasn't with some guy.  I started to
wonder if she'd had a bad experience with men sometime in her past, before
silently kicking myself.  Don't be stupid, I said to myself.  It's not as
if people decide to be gay as a last resort.

   My mental conversation must have showed on my face because Chris was
looking at me, a questioning look on her face.

   "Never mind," I said sheepishly.  "Just thinking stupid thoughts. 
Again, this is brave of the two of you.  Do you want to head in?  I'm sure
everyone is waiting anxiously for you."

   Chris sighed heavily, more for dramatic effect than any real sense of
impending doom she may have had, and followed me back to the living room.

   I was happy to see no evidence of bloodshed as Chris and I made our way
into the living room.  Deciding to let Chris and my sister share the love
seat, I took one of the arm chairs and sat back, waiting to see what would
happen.

   A bit to my surprise, neither of my parents seemed too shocked by the
new developments, much less angry about my sister's news.

   "We're very pleased to meet you," my mother said graciously, standing to
walk over to the love seat.  There was a flash of panic on Natalie's face,
but it was soon wiped away as Chris also stood and the two women embraced.

   "Yes," my father said from the sofa.  "We were wondering when Natalie
was going to bring you home," he laughed.

   I looked at my parents, assuming my own expression must have somewhat
mirrored the look of shock on my sister's face.  In no way had I expected
my parents to be anything but civil to Chris, but they were much more
welcoming than I had thought might be the case.

   "Um...  thanks," said Chris, a bit nervously.  "It's good to meet you
guys, finally." She gulped, looking quickly to Natalie for reassurance, and
I noticed the two were holding hands, protecting themselves, no doubt, from
the wrath they feared might be forthcoming.

   "Would you like a piece of cake?" my mother asked suddenly, ever the
good hostess.  She stood, looking expectantly at the two girls, who quickly
nodded, still somewhat confused by the reaction they were receiving.

   "I'll help you," I said, following my mother out of the living room and
into the kitchen.

   "You're taking this well," I said as my mother began cutting the cake.
Wanting to actually be of some help, I went to the cupboard and grabbed
enough dessert plates for the five of us.

   "Could you grab some forks, too?" my mother asked.  I nodded dumbly and
went to the silverware drawer.

   "I said, you're taking this well," I repeated as I brought over the
utensils.  I seriously began to wonder if my mother was in a mild state of
shock and was simply acting cordial and polite to avoid thinking about the
situation.  To my surprise my mother laughed quietly.

   "So are you," she nodded knowingly.  "You don't seemed surprised at
all."

   "Well, I knew about it before," I said apologetically.  "Natalie said
she wanted to tell you."

   "Good," my mother said.  "I wouldn't have wanted to hear it from you
anyway," she smiled.  "Besides, it's not as if your father and I didn't
know about Chris." At this point, I'm sure my eyes were bugging out of
their sockets.

   "Really?" I was almost speechless.  "How?"

   "Never mind that," my mother said as she placed the pieces of cake on a
serving tray.  Shaking my head in wonder, both at her apparent acceptance
of my sister's lifestyle, and the fact that my mother had just told me that
none of this was really news to her.  I blanched, as I realized that, once
again, kids don't give nearly enough credit to their parents, and wondered
just how many secrets I actually had from my mom and dad.

   Deciding that the number was more than likely far less than I had ever
believed, I finding that I really didn't want to know the truth of the
matter, I grabbed the forks and some napkins and followed my mother back
into the living room.

   *****

   The rest of the summer was more of the same for me.  I found myself
thinking of Heather more and more as time went on, further convinced by
Natalie that I just needed to tell her how I felt, and have an actual,
adult conversation with her.

   "I'm sure she'll understand," Natalie promised one night as we chatted
in my bedroom.  "She thinks you're a great guy, right?"

   "Not so sure about that right now," I admitted.  "But she's probably
right to think so.  I don't know how great I think I am, to be honest."

   "You're fine," Natalie said, giving me a quick hug.

   "Hope so," I replied.  "How'd you get so smart?" I asked "When did this
happen?"

   "I think it was when you were gone," Natalie teased.  "With you gone I
could finally be rid of your bad influence, you know."

   "Is that what happened?" I asked, turning the previously gentle hug into
a tickling frenzy, immediately causing Natalie to squirm away from me,
laughing all the while.

   I laughed and tried to catch her, but she was too quick and escaped to
her room.

   "Too fast for you!" she called out through her door.  I knocked to no
avail but she didn't answer, and I went away annoyed but strangely happy.
It had been a while since I'd had any fun, and if I could once again be
spontaneous and even a bit immature during the day, then perhaps I'd be
able to survive the nights.

   The nights were the most difficult for me, for a number of reasons. 
First was the fact that for the past few month, living with Heather, s my
sex life had been far more active than ever before and now it was as if I
had been cut off.  Cold turkey.  So I returned to the age-old tradition. 
Cold cream and an old towel.

   To my surprise, I found myself fantasizing about Heather, but not
Heather alone.  During my frequent masturbatory sessions, I allowed my
fantasies to run wild, imagining Heather with Stacey, Heather with Katie,
even Heather with Dr.  Bergerud.

   Shockingly, and after first pausing in my ministrations at the utter
depravity of it, I one night brought myself to a crushing orgasm at the
thought of myself in bed with my sister and Chris!  I rationalized this as
a subconscious thing on the part of my brain, an image brought about by
something I was forced to confront on an almost daily basis.

   You see, as the last month of summer progressed, it became more and more
difficult to avoid Natalie and Chris and their escapades around the house.
Our parents always take a two-week vacation right before September, and
this year was no exception.  Their trip this summer would take them on a
long, round-trip circuit visiting relatives I'd not seen in ages.  If not
for my disastrous trip to Europe and my pouting and grousing about it at
home, I may have been excited to go, but passed on the opportunity, as did
Natalie, who wanted to stay around town to be with Chris.

   Our parents reluctantly agreed with the idea of my sister and I staying
at the house alone.  Not because we weren't trusted, because they certainly
felt that we were old enough to fend for ourselves, but because the two of
us would be missing the opportunity to meet relatives and go places we'd
never had the chance to before.

   Their plans were to head to Ohio and Pennsylvania to visit my mother's
relatives, and then up into Maine and New Brunswick in Canada to visit my
uncle Charles, the biggest, baddest, blackest sheep on my father's side of
the family.  I had only met him once at a family reunion, fifteen years
earlier, an awkward attempt to "make nice" by the rest of his family, an
attempt that was by all accounts a miserable failure.

   What had happened was that his parents had cut most of their ties with
him when he was in his late teens.  Charles and his then-girlfriend had
become pregnant, much to their surprise and much to my grandparents' dismay
and embarrassment.  Both sets of parents were opposed to the young couple
bringing a child into the world, but the two teen professed their love
opted to become parents.

   All seemed well, aside for the distance Charles' parents put between
themselves and Charles.  He was in love and when the baby came, Charles was
supposedly the proudest papa anyone had ever seen.  Unfortunately, deciding
late that she was not ready to become a mother, Uncle Charles' girlfriend
had left him, leaving him to care for their son on his own.

   It was at this point that his family had a change of heart, taking
Charles back into the fold, so to speak, but a couple years later he packed
up everything and moved to Maine, and then finally to Canada, where he was
now married to Erin, a doctor he met at the small clinic in town, after a
serious injury to Alex, my cousin.  Charles and Erin, after years of trying
to mend fences, were finally back on speaking terms with the rest of his
family and this trip by my parents was their attempt to start the
reconciliation.

   So, my parents were glad for the chance to see relatives, that was
certain, but what that meant to me, and more importantly my sister Natalie,
was the two of us had the house all to ourselves for two weeks.  I have
been a teen in love, or lust as the case may be, and having that much time,
completely away from adult supervision, was nothing less than an invitation
to debauchery.

   And that was exactly what Natalie and Chris felt, as evidenced by the
number of times I walked in on them, in various states of undress and
arousal.

   The first time it happened, I was just coming back home from an
afternoon of shooting hoops at the park near the house.  I was hot and
sweaty, and aching from the activity and walked into the house fairly
intent on one thing - taking a long, steaming shower.  I failed to notice
Chris' car parked in front of the house but there was no getting past the
two of them once I entered the house.

   "Oh, God!" my sister screamed, right as I pushed open the front door. 
"You fuck me so good!"

   Startled, I whipped my head around and ogled at the sight in front of
me.

   Once again, just as they had been the first time I saw them nine months
before, my sister and her girlfriend were laid out on the couch, heavily
involved with pleasuring each other.  As opposed to that New Year's Eve, I
had managed to walk in on them much farther along in the action, so to
speak, and neither my sister nor Chris was wearing anything other than the
tiny pair of blue panties seemingly stuck around my sister's ankle.

   Ignoring the fact that one of the naked females was my sister, my cock
was instantly hard at the image I was presented with.  Natalie, her face
and chest flushed pink with arousal, lay spread-eagled on the couch, each
hand holding a smooth thigh as she spread herself as wide as possible.  Her
breathing was deep and heavy and the scream I had heard was no doubt the
result of the three fingers Chris was rapidly plunging in and out of my
sister's wet pussy.

   "You're so tight," I heard Chris marvel before she leaned down to take a
long swipe up and down the length of Natalie's slit.  "And damn tasty,
too!" she giggled.  My sister's only response was to jerk her hips up and
down erratically as the fingers and tongue of her girlfriend brought her
closer and closer to climax.

   "Harder, harder, harder," she chanted, rocking her hips and pelvis up
and down, slamming herself against Chris' chin.  Chris responded by
reaching up and grabbing a stiff, pink nipple between her fingers and
twisting roughly on the hard flesh.  Natalie stiffened, whether in ecstasy
or pain I couldn't tell, her mouth gaped open in an almost silent scream,
before a strange, high-pitched keening sound erupted from her throat.

   I watched, stunned and incredibly aroused, as my sister quivered
uncontrollably before literally flooding Chris' face as she erupted in
orgasm, a torrent of fluids bursting from her pussy as her climax shook
through her body.

   "Oh, God!" she squealed, thrusting up against Chris, who had brought a
hand down to my sister's still pulsing pussy, and was now gently thrusting
a finger in and out of the wetness.

   Not wanting to be seen and hoping my presence had not already been
noticed, I quietly backed out of the house, walking around the front yard
to my room where my window, thankfully on the ground floor, was open.

   I climbed into my room, quickly threw my clothes onto the floor and
flopped onto my bed.  My prick was as stiff and ready as I had been since
Heather and I had fought, and I wasted no time in taking advantage of my
pent-up passion.  I quickly found my rhythm and it wasn't more that thirty
seconds to a minute before I felt my own orgasm rush out of me and onto my
chest and stomach.

   I lay there, sweaty and satisfied, for a few minutes, trying to come to
terms with what I had just seen and what I had just done.  It didn't bother
me in the least that Natalie and Chris were doing what they did.  They were
involved, in love, and horny.  I couldn't blame them for that, although I
would have to find some way to caution them against being so obvious about
it, especially once our parents returned.

   What bothered me less than I would have thought was my reaction to
seeing my sister, yet again, sexually involved.  I would have expected my
reaction to be an immediate impulse to give Natalie the privacy she needed,
but instead found myself masturbating to the image of she and her
girlfriend locked together in a sexual frenzy.

   Did this make me depraved?  Some kind of pervert?  I figured it probably
did, but the rush I got from my orgasms when I imagined the two of them, or
the three of us, together doing nasty things together, more than made up
for any guilt I felt.  And I did feel some guilt as I put myself back
together.  I looked around my room for a moment.  Now that I was inside, I
realized I would more than likely have to get outside.

   If I stayed, I was going to have to explain my presence in the house,
since Natalie and Chris would undoubtedly realize I had not come in through
the front door and would probably quickly guess as to why I had felt the
need to sneak into my own home.  Deciding I'd rather not have that
confrontation play out, because I really did want to give them privacy, I
grabbed a clean shirt from my dresser and climbed out the same window I'd
recently climbed in.

   I waved at our next door neighbor, an elderly woman who no doubt
wondered what I was doing as I lowered myself out of my bedroom window onto
the grass, and jogged back to the park.  I waited there for another twenty
minutes before I saw Chris' car heading down our street.  After a few more
minutes I went back home, glad I had been able to pull off my little ruse.
Or so I thought.

   "I saw you walk in on us," were the first words out of my sister's mouth
when I walked in the house.  I'm sure my eyes bugged out and I found myself
at a loss for words.

   "I...  um..." was all I got out before Natalie waved off my attempts to
explain myself.

   "It's okay," she giggled.  "We should have gone somewhere else."

   "Yeah, like a hotel or something," I said, happy my sister didn't seem
too upset.  In fact, as I looked at her, she seemed more embarrassed by the
situation than I was.  Far from her words being confrontational, she seemed
almost as if she was trying to gauge my reaction to what I saw, and
appeared almost ready to apologize.

   "It's just...  when we get together...  wow!" Natalie exclaimed as she
remembered the recent experience.

   "I'll say," I said wryly.  "You seemed...  really into each other."

   At that, Natalie blushed brightly, squirming nervously on the couch.

   "Where did you go?" she asked.

   "I went back to the park," I answered quickly.  "Shot some more hoops."

   "Where's the basketball?" my sister asked, pointing to my empty hands.
She was right, after I had jerked off to the image of the two lovers, I had
left the ball in my room.

   "Um..." I said, flailing for words, but nothing came to me and I
shrugged helplessly.

   "Daniel?" she asked.  "What did you do?"

   Defeated, I sighed heavily as I slumped down into an easy chair.

   "I snuck back to my room, climbed in through the window and jacked off.
You happy?" I asked.  "You two were pretty damn hot and I couldn't help
myself."

   "Ooh!  Too much information," my sister exclaimed.  "I'm sure I didn't
need to know that!"

   "You asked," I said.

   "Still.  God!  Lie to me or something."

   "Sorry," I mumbled.  "I'm going to take a shower after all this," I
said. "A nice, cold shower."

   "Go, go!" my sister said, laughing as she pointed down the hallway.  I
turned to leave before she called after me, a strange look on her face. 
"Daniel?" she said shyly.

   "Yeah?" I asked, turning back to face her.

   "Did you really...  did you really think of us?" she asked quietly.  I
didn't know what answer she was looking for, finally deciding on the truth.

   "Yes.  You guys...  you guys were pretty damn hot," I said.

   "Did you think of Chris, or did you think of me, too?" she asked.  I
felt my blood turn cold as I tried to think of a way to answer her
question. Lie to her?  She'd said that would have been better initially,
but I felt that she was now looking for the truth of the matter.

   "Yes," I said.  "I couldn't take my eyes off you," I admitted.

   "Do you...  how come?" she asked.  "Do you want to do stuff with me?"

   "No!" I quickly answered, regretting the speed and harshness of my
response.  I lowered my voice, trying to take the sting out of my words,
although why I felt as though Natalie might have been offended that her
brother didn't want to have sex with her escaped me.  "I mean...  you
looked really good," I said, bringing a quick smile to her face.  "Damn
good.  Too good," I stammered.  "But I would never try anything with you.
Promise."

   I turned quickly to go, wanting nothing more than for this conversation
to be finished but still heard my sister's response, although I wasn't sure
how to take it.

   "Oh," she said quietly.  "Thanks."

   I escaped back to my room finally, closing the door behind me as I again
fell to the bed.  Why does my life have to be so complicated?  I wondered.
Even though I had just had one of the more powerful orgasms of my life, I
found with a surprise that my prick was once again trying to peek out of
the top of my shorts.  I considered another whack at it, so to speak, but
finally decided a nap was in order.  I was not surprised in the least, nor
did I find myself all that bothered when I woke up, to find that I had
dreamed of my sister.

   Part Ten

   Thankfully the rest of the summer was quite a bit less embarrassing than
the afternoon I walked in on Chris and Natalie.  After undoubtedly having a
talk about being caught, Natalie and Chris kept their dalliances to
themselves, sticking mainly to Natalie's room, although I did almost walk
in on the two of them in the downstairs TV room once or twice.

   Judging from the sounds coming up the stairs, they were either heavily
involved with each other, or had decided to watch a bit of porn.  Either
way, I found the thought once again massively stimulating and found myself,
again, on my bed, prick in hand.

   But as arousing as their moans and squeals of pleasure were, I didn't
fantasize about the two of them exclusively, much to my relief.  They were
but a pleasant, if awkward, fantasy and I knew just a diversion to my real
issue.

   Most of the time I thought about Heather, and not just when I was horny.
I missed how we used to lie in bed together and just talk.  I missed how we
had grown used to each other's presence from living together.  I missed how
we would make breakfast together, not speaking any words as we prepared to
eat, but dancing around each other in the kitchen as if the entire process
was choreographed.

   I missed her.

   They say time heals all wounds, and I certainly hoped they were right in
my case.  I realized then that Dr.  Bergerud and my sister, damn them both,
had been correct.  I didn't want to give Heather a free pass on her
activities, because I still felt the pain of walking in on her, but I
wanted to give her a chance to explain herself, to really talk it out.  I
wanted to hear what she had to say without screaming and lashing out at
her.

   I wanted to give her another chance, and hoped that she would give me
one too.

   *****

   Two weeks later, and it was now the end of summer.  I had still not
called Heather although I wanted to.  In fact, I almost had on numerous
occasions, but each time I picked up the receiver, the thought of making
some foolish mistake made a quick end to my plans.  It wasn't as if I
wouldn't see her immediately on my return, since she was in my apartment,
and I steeled myself for what could be another ugly confrontation.

   "You're coming to visit, right?" I asked as I hugged my sister one last
time before I headed out.  "I'd really like to see more of you this year."

   "Sure," Natalie chirped happily.  "But maybe not as much as you've
already seen," she blushed.  "Just, Let me know when a good time is for
you."

   "I'll do that," I laughed, giving her a quick hug as I turned to wave at
my parents.

   "I'm going to miss you," Natalie said as she squeezed me once more.

   "It's only going to be a couple months," I said.

   "Okay," she groused.  "Promise?"

   "Promise," I said, nodding for emphasis.

   I turned to my car, preparing to climb in when Natalie tugged at my
shirt sleeve.

   "Daniel?" she said quietly.

   "Yeah?"

   "Thank you," she said.

   "For what?" I asked.  In truth, she had been there for me more than I
ever had for her.

   "For keeping a secret...  when I needed you to," she answered, "And for
supporting me, when it was finally time to not keep any secrets." She
blushed as she said it, looking down nervously.

   "You're welcome," I answered.  "Hey, what are brothers for?" I asked. 
She grinned once and leaned up to kiss me on the cheek.  With that Natalie
turned and headed back to the house.

   I waved once more, climbed into my car, hoping it would once again make
the trip from Illinois to Nebraska, and headed down the street.

   *****

   Summer, mercifully, had ended, and it was time for me to return to
school, and begin thinking about classes, and new assignments from Dr. 
Bergerud.

   I was once again going to be his teaching assistant, although there had
been some very unsubtle hints in one of our phone conversations that I
would be taking on more of the load in his lectures.  It appeared as though
he had been serious about me possibly taking over for him, or at least
taking on some of his schedule, when he retired, or moved on to wherever he
was going.

   I wasn't particularly sure how I felt about this development, and hoped
I wasn't pushed for an answer too early in the school year.  I knew things
were going to be hectic and more than likely a bit out of control when I
returned to Omaha.  Adjusting to school and teaching was going to be hard
enough.  Add in an expanded set of responsibilities on top of my already
existing duties was going to put pressure on me I hadn't felt for years. 
But I knew that it would be a good chance to see if teaching was really
what I wanted to do, and I welcomed the stress.

   Those problems were going to be easy, in reality, and if I could have
gone straight to campus and begun working, I would have jumped at the
chance.  No, the real problem was going to be when I arrived back to my
apartment and opened the front door.  I knew Heather was going to be there,
and the two of us were going to finally have our talk, for good or bad. 
Truth be told, I was actually looking forward to talking with her.  I hoped
it didn't end as badly as our last attempted conversation.

   No, the problem wasn't that we were going to get into an argument.  We
had argued before and had always been fine, except for the last one.  And I
was over that, or at least hoped I was able to put away my hurt and really
listen to her as we talked.  The problem was that I knew that at the end of
this discussion, there was a chance that Heather would go her way while I
went mine.

   And I knew that if that happened I was going to miss Heather worse than
I had after Europe, because I had realized during our summer apart that,
far from being ready to see her out of my life, I still loved her.

   I just hoped I could convince her it was the truth.

   *****

   Happily, my trusty car had enough in it for at least one more drive to
school, and around six o'clock that night I pulled into the parking lot
behind my apartment building.  I grabbed one suitcase, but left the rest in
the car, planning on dealing with it the next morning at the earliest.  I
was tired, but not so exhausted I wasn't looking forward to at least seeing
Heather.

   To my surprise, as I approached my building I noticed the lights were
off and the curtains drawn in my apartment.  I wondered if Heather had gone
out, but when I unlocked the door, the truth of the matter was plainly
evident.

   She was gone.

   "Shit," I mumbled as I looked at the living room.  Heather hadn't left
in a hurry, and none of my belongings appeared ruined or out of place, but
everything that Heather owned was clearly missing.

   A part of me was relieved...  relieved that our confrontation wouldn't
come right away, but scared.  Scared she had not only left, but left for
good.  Scared that in the month and a half I'd been too afraid to call her,
she had moved on with her life and found some other guy.  Terrified that
I'd never see her again.

   A piece of paper caught my eye, and my hopes were raised when I thought
she may have left me a note.  And indeed she had, but not the kind I'd
hoped for.

   "Dan," it said in Heather's loopy scrawl.  "The plumber's coming on
Saturday."

   That was it.  There were no apologies, no mention of anything that had
gone on.

   I balled up the note and threw it in the garbage, far more tired now
than when I'd been driving.

   Locking the door and turning off the lights, I staggered to my bedroom
and looked at the bed, but couldn't sleep there.  That was the bed Heather
and I used to sleep in.

   Grabbing a blanked and a pillow I went back to the living room.  I
turned the radio to a classical station, hoping for something soothing, and
made my little bed on the couch.

   Sleep was a long time in coming.

   *****

   The week before school started up was as hectic as any I'd known since I
started college.  Dr.  Bergerud was serious in his plans, and I found
myself inundated with class schedules, lesson plans, lecture notes and more
student visits than I'd ever hoped to see.  It was a bit overwhelming and
not for the first time I started questioning my desire to teach.

   "It's worth it," he said one afternoon when I told him how exhausted I
was.

   "Really?" I asked.

   "Absolutely."

   My own classes, the ones I would be taking, were shaping up to be busy
as well, but with a little boost of confidence from Dr.  Bergerud, I felt I
could perform well.

   Sadly, Estelle, Dr.  B's longtime secretary, had indeed retired at the
end of the previous school year, which left an enormous hole in our
beginning of semester planning.  Thankfully however, the uptight battle-axe
the school had brought in last year as her temporary replacement was
nowhere in sight, but that didn't make things any easier for the two of us.

   Estelle had been a fixture at the college for many years, and often Dr.
Bergerud and I found ourselves lost, knowing that if Estelle were only
here, we would have had to but ask the question, and the answer would have
been at her fingertips.  I asked Dr.  Bergerud one afternoon if the school
had settled on a replacement, but for some reason he hedged on his answer.

   "Not real sure," he mumbled.  "It's still kind of up in the air.  Not
real sure yet."

   "Is there a problem?" I asked, my curiosity aroused by his answer.

   I tried to get more out of him, but he refused to say any more.  I
thought the solution had presented itself when Katie, Dr.  B's daughter,
showed up one afternoon and began helping us in the office.

   "Are you the new secretary?" I asked in amazement.  She had done an
excellent job on short notice the year before and as sad as I was about
losing Heather, I had to admit that Katie would be very easy on the eyes if
she were hanging around the music department.

   "Only part-time," she answered.  "I have other stuff going on, but I
think someone else is coming too," she said, but couldn't give me any
names.

   "Why don't we just hire a couple of students to work part-time in the
office?" I asked one day.  "They could certainly file and copy, right?"

   "We might do that," Dr.  Bergerud allowed.  "But we're really looking
for someone to take over permanently.  It's a huge hassle to have so much
flux in an academic setting, and if we can ease that problem just a little
bit, it will be huge.  Especially with me leaving," he continued, looking
pointedly at me.

   "What?" I asked, knowing what was coming next.

   "Daniel, have you thought any more about what I spoke with you about?"
he asked.

   "You mean taking over after you leave?" I asked.  Dr.  Bergerud nodded,
waiting for me to answer.  "I have," I finally said.  "I'd really like the
position.  I love it here.  I like the other faculty.  But...  don't you
think I'm too young?"

   "Not really," he said, shaking his head.  "A little younger, perhaps,
than I was when I started, but you also have much more experience."

   I must have made some sign of displeasure at his words, as all the
experiences he had relayed to me came flooding back.  Dr.  Bergerud
grimaced at my expression, standing back to look at me intently.

   He had told me during the plane ride back from Sweden the story of his
life.  How he had grown up in a very reserved fashion, had a steady
girlfriend, but just found something was lacking.  How he had one day found
his way into an adult bookstore and found himself surrounded by pictures
and paraphernalia he had only imagined before.

   "It changed my life," he had said on the plane.  "For both good and
bad."

   His habits had eventually led to Dr.  Bergerud being fired from his
position teaching middle school music.  But he had been fortunate enough to
almost immediately find a position with the college, the position he
currently held and was considering giving up.

   I also remembered Dr.  Bergerud telling of the temptations that went
along with his position of power over so many students.  How it wasn't
uncommon for students to offer bribes, both monetarily and sexually, for
better grades.  And I remembered how he had admitted to accepting those
bribes, even reveling in them, with a few students.

   In fact, to my surprise I had found out that Stacey had been one of his
students, one of the last he had ever had a "relationship" with.  How he
had considered the possibilities of marriage for the first time.  It might
have worked, and the fact that their ages weren't that far apart didn't
make things impossible, although it would have meant moving on.  It would
have been worth it, he had said, based on how much in love he had been. 
But then she had disappeared immediately after graduating.

   Eighteen years had gone by and Dr.  Bergerud had been alone, until one
day, not much more than a year ago, as it turned out, his passions had been
re-ignited by another student.  A freshman he'd never met before came into
his office.  Her grades were not what they should be, and offered herself
to him.  For some reason he couldn't place, the girl seemed familiar, and
it was only after accepting her advances that the girl told him the truth.

   Her mother was Stacey Roberts, his student from so long ago, and that
Katie his student was in reality Katie his daughter.  This had all gone on
the previous school year, although I had been oblivious to much of it.  It
had indeed surprised me when Dr.  Bergerud started showing up to events
with his wife and daughter, two women I'd never met before this year, but
his story explained a lot.

   "Do you think I'm disgusting?" he asked suddenly, and I was jerked out
of my thoughts and into the conversation at hand.

   "What?  No.  Why?"

   "You know what I've done.  Who I've done it with," he said.  "What I did
to my wife...  my students...  my daughter."

   "I'm not really one to judge what you do in private," I said.  "And you
said you didn't know until after that Katie was your daughter, right?" I
asked, already knowing that was the case.  He had told me it was a one-time
thing with Katie, although he and Stacey were very open about what went on
between them, even knowing she might be around.  "I'm surprised you behaved
that way with your students, but...  it has to be tempting," I admitted.

   "It's not you they want," he said sadly, as if regretting some missed
opportunity or some failure.  "It's just the position.  Have these women
wouldn't have given me the time of the day if I wasn't their teacher."

   "They used you," I said, half in jest.

   "And I used them right back," he sighed.  "I guess we both got what we
wanted.  What we deserved."

   "I suppose," I said carefully, not wanting to upset him.  "But why do
you ask?"

   "If I don't upset you...  if I don't disgust you, then what's so
different about Heather?" he asked pointedly.

   "I...  I don't know," I shrugged.

   "What has she done that's so wrong?" he asked quietly.  "I know what she
did, and how it upset you, but...  haven't I done far worse, and you still
talk with me...  still respect me?"

   I nodded.  I knew he was right, and wanted to tell him so.

   "Sure.  But...  I thought Heather and I had something different, and I
just felt so betrayed.  I want to tell her, I really do.  But she left, and
I don't know where to find her." I sighed miserably, sitting back into the
chair in front of Dr.  B's desk, looking at him for some bit of guidance.

   "What would you say to her?" he asked, sitting down in front of me.

   "I don't know for sure.  I'd tell her that I've missed her.  That I want
to sit down and actually talk with her, not scream and throw out
accusations.  I'd tell her that I love her," I said.

   "Why don't you call her?" he asked in confusion.  I had found out that
Heather and Katie had talked, and Katie was aware of where Heather was
staying and had given me her phone number, and Dr.  Bergerud knew this
also.

   "I tried," I said, to his obvious surprise.

   "Really?"

   "For all the good it did!" I spat out.  "I called her right away.  She
picked up the phone, heard who it was, and hung up before I could get
anything out."

   "I'm sorry," Dr.  Bergerud grimaced.

   "Oh, it gets worse," I sighed.  "I called back right away, but again,
the second she heard my voice, she hung up.  I tried a third time, but the
phone just rang.  I think she even unplugged her answering machine, so I
couldn't even leave a message.  I don't know what she wants."

   "Would you tell her you're sorry?" Dr.  Bergerud asked.

   "Yes," I replied immediately.  "Absolutely.  In a heartbeat.  But she
didn't even give me the chance.  I don't know if that's what she wants."

   Dr.  Bergerud sighed.  "Maybe someday you'll get that chance.  Hopefully
sooner than later," he said.

   I hoped so too.

   *****

   Still, it was a complete shock when I went in the following Monday for
the first day of classes.  I had two of my own seminars early in the
morning, and didn't actually get into the music department until just
before lunch.  I checked in Dr.  B's office to see if he wanted to get some
food, but he was nowhere to be found, so I went to check with Katie.

   Only Katie wasn't the secretary today.

   "Hi," Heather said when I entered the office.

   "Heather," I said weakly.  "How...  how are you?"

   "Good," she replied stiffly.  "You?"

   "Good," I answered.  Suddenly all the things I'd planned to tell her got
stuck in my throat and I flailed around, making weak hand gestures in the
air.  "I...  I was looking for Dr.  Bergerud," I said.  "Is he in?"

   "He had a lunch meeting," she replied crisply after consulting the
calendar in front of her.  "He should be back around two o'clock.  I'll
tell him you were looking for him," she said.

   "Uh...  thanks," I said and quickly fled, running as quickly as possible
to my own office.

   Heather?  The new secretary?  I thought.  Shit shit shit shit shit.

   I didn't know what was going on, but Dr.  Bergerud was certainly behind
this to some extent, and now he was gone, and I had no one to ask the
questions I had.  Unfortunately I had another class to teach before he
returned, and after my final rehearsal of the day I found the department
empty and the offices locked.

   I went home that night even more confused than before.  I knew this was
Dr.  B's way of attempting to get me back together with Heather, but I
wasn't sure if it would work.  I had been at a loss for words at our
meeting, not surprising I suppose, in light of the shock I felt at seeing
her so suddenly.  But Heather had been cool toward me and I wasn't sure if
that wasn't an indication of how she truly felt.

   I tried calling the number Katie had given me, but just like all the
others I received no answer.  This time however, the answering machine did
pick up, and I left an embarrassingly long, rambling message, pleading with
her to call me back as soon as she could.

   I had just hung up and was on my way to the bathroom when the phone
rang. I raced back to the living room and picked up on the second ring.

   "Heather?" I said breathlessly.

   "No," came the voice on the other end of the line.  "Are you guys
talking finally?  That's great!"

   "Hello?" I said in puzzlement.  "Who is this?"

   "Daniel!  It's Natalie," my sister said, laughing at my confusion.

   "Oh, hey," I answered weakly.  "What's up?"

   "Never mind that," she said.  "What's up with you and Heather?  Are you
guys speaking again?  Why was she going to call you?"

   "No...  we're not," I replied, quickly relating the story of the
constant hang-ups I received when I called..  "I...  I just left her a
message and I thought you might be her.

   "I'm sorry," Natalie said.

   "It's okay," I said.  "What's up?  Why'd you call in the first place?"

   "Well, it's been a month or so, and I was wondering when you were going
to invite me to visit you," she replied, sounding overly chipper.  "Hmm?"

   "Oh," I said, caught a bit off guard.  "Whenever is fine, I suppose. 
It's not like I don't have room for you."

   "Haven't found another roommate yet?" my sister asked quickly.  "You
have a spare room for me?"

   "I guess.  Why?  When are you coming?" I wondered.  I waited for a
response, but the connection seemed to have dropped.  I hung up waiting for
my sister to call back, but the phone didn't ring.  I shrugged, ready to
continue my trip to the bathroom when there was a knocking on the door.

   Groaning in frustration I walked back into the living room and opened
the door, stunned at who I found on my doorstep.

   "Hey," I said, confused and surprised at my visitor.  "What are you
doing here?"

   "Hey," she answered.  "Um...  can I come in?  This suitcase is awfully
heavy."

   *****

   For the second time in a year, I found myself helping a stranded female
move into my apartment.  Thankfully it wasn't snowing this time.

   "Why are you here again?" I asked my sister as she brought in another
load from the curb.  It was the last of her belongings, the pile now taking
up a good portion of the floor in the entryway.

   "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered.

   "Not good enough," I said, reaching out and pulling her onto the couch,
one of the few places a person could still sit in the living room. 
"Natalie, tell me...  what's going on?"

   "I hate her!" she said and I pulled back, surprised at the outrage I
heard in her voice.

   "Hate who?" I asked.  "What happened?"

   "Chris," she spat out, much to my surprise.

   "Chris?" I asked.  "Why?  What did she do?"

   "She went back to her boyfriend," Natalie said venomously.  "I can't
believe her!"

   "Whoa," I said.  "Hang on a second.  Chris has a boyfriend?"

   "I guess," she answered.  "She does now."

   "When did this happen?" I wondered.  "I thought you two were in love."

   "We were.  I was.  I don't fucking know!" Natalie almost screamed.

   "Shh..." I said, pulling my sister into a fierce hug.  "Calm down, Nat.
It's going to be okay, you know?" I gently rocked her in my arms as best as
I was able, holding Natalie as she moved quickly from anger to despair as
she sobbed in my arms.

   When her tears had finally dried, my sister pulled away, an embarrassed
grin on her face.

   "Sorry," she said.  "I've been holding that in for a while.  I didn't
mean to let it all out in front of you."

   "Who else is there?" I asked.  "It's why I'm here." I grinned, reaching
up to wipe a tear from her cheek.

   "Thank you," she said.

   "Can I ask a question though?" I asked.  Natalie nodded.  "Why are you
here?  You didn't drive all this way just to cry on my shoulder, did you?"
My sister grinned, shaking her head.

   "No," she replied.  "I came here to visit, like I said."

   "Yeah, like you said when you called from my doorstep," I kidded.

   "Sorry about that," she blushed.  "But it's true.  I wanted to see you.
I just didn't want to see you like this."

   "I get it," I answered.  "But why all the stuff?  How long are you
planning on being here?" I looked around the room at the pile of books and
clothing and CDs.  Her luggage did seem a bit excessive for a short visit.

   "All semester?" she asked shyly.

   "What do you mean...  are you...?" I didn't really know what question to
ask.  "Why are you here again?"

   "I...  I just couldn't stay with Mom and Dad anymore," she finally
answered.  "It got to be too much, you know?  They were so supportive of
me. They told me everything would be okay and they said they'd be there for
me, but it was...  too much." She shrugged her shoulders.  "I had to get
out...  I couldn't stand to see Chris anymore.  I'm sorry."

   "No!  Don't be," I said.  "You can stay.  Please...  stay as long as
you'd like.  I wasn't joking on the phone...  I do have a spare room.  Do
you need any money?"

   "No, I'm good," Natalie answered.  "I should have money from the
government too, at least in a few weeks.  I can pay you rent then."

   "Money, from what?"

   "Student loans," my sister answered.  "I'm actually going to school here
in town...  didn't Mom tell you over the phone?" she asked, sounded
somewhat exasperated.

   "You are?  No, she didn't, or at least I don't think so.  Wait, are you
going to be...?"

   "No, not with you.  I wanted to go into nursing, and really there's only
one place in town for that."

   "True enough," I agreed, "And it certainly isn't here.  Whew!" I wiped
my forehead in mock relief.  "Not that it wouldn't have been fun, but it
might have been weird having you in school with me."

   Natalie giggled a bit at that.  "As weird as living in the same house
with me?" she asked.  I was happy she seemed to be over her breakup with
Chris, at least for the moment.

   "Possibly," I said.  "But you can be certain it wouldn't be nearly as...
exciting!"

   "Goof," she laughed, punching me in the chest.  "I've gotta get up," she
said finally, pulling herself away from me and standing up.  "Where's your
bathroom?"

   "Down the hall and to the left," I said, pointing her in the right
direction.  I looked once again at the pile of Natalie's things and started
the process of taking them into her room.  I instantly flashed back to
helping Heather move in, but forced the thought out of my mind.

   I hoped that having Natalie around would be a good thing.  I didn't see
how her presence could interfere with any possibility, slight thought it
might be, of Heather and I reconciling, but I wasn't sure.  At least I
wouldn't be lonely, even if my sex life would, once again, be down to
nothing.

   *****

   Again, like so many other calculations, I would have been wrong.  I
don't know if it was being away from home, or if Natalie felt she could
trust me after what I had seen and done, but for whatever reason, Natalie
decided to make my life hard.

   Literally.

   Gone were the baggy sweatshirts and loose slacks I was used to seeing
her wear.  Suddenly Natalie was dressing in skin-tight jeans, belly shirts
or tank tops, and from the look of things, very little underwear.  If her
intent was to get to me, it was definitely working, but I was confused by
her attentions and didn't quite know what to think.  Added to that the fact
that she was my sister, and seldom did I go to bed anything but incredibly
horny, while at the same time feeling guilty for being that way!

   Her attentions finally got the best of me one afternoon a couple weeks
into school.  Natalie was telling me the story of one of the other students
in her biology class.

   "Carol is so hot," she giggled.  "You'd like her I think.  She wears
these skirts that barely go down to the middle of her thigh, and the way
she walks makes her hips go from side to side...  I get wet just talking
with her!  I don't know if she's into girls though," Natalie said
thoughtfully.  "I'm not very good at that sort of thing," she admitted. 
"Chris was the one who came onto me.  How do you ask out another girl?" she
asked, clearing her throat when I failed to answer.

   "What?" I asked.  Truth of the matter was, I had been incredibly
distracted.  While my sister had been talking, and apparently without her
even being aware of it, Natalie had allowed one of her hands to stray up
her chest where it was now gently massaging her left breast as I ogled her.
Natalie's nipples were clearly visible through the t-shirt she was wearing
and despite my best efforts I couldn't tear my eyes away.

   When she saw where I was looking, she quickly dropped the hand, blushing
as she apologized.

   "Sorry," she squeaked.  "I got carried away I guess."

   "Jeez, Nat," I said in frustration.  "Take it to your room, okay? 
There's only so much a guy can take, and you're my sister for goodness
sake!"

   "As if that stopped you from watching me before," she said.  "Pervert."

   "That was different," I said, trying to think of why I felt that was the
case.

   "How?" she asked.

   "I...  I don't know.  But seriously, it's not like I whip out my dick
and start stroking myself when we're eating dinner."

   "Do you want to?" Natalie asked suddenly.

   "Sometimes," I admitted slowly.  "Would you quit wearing so freaking
little around here?  I know you're my sister, but for crying out loud,
there's only so much a guy can take!"

   "Sorry," my sister said, bursting into tears.  I watched helplessly as
she ran from the living room.  I heard her barge into her room and the
sound of her dropping to the bed, but didn't hear the door slam behind her.
Sighing in frustration, knowing that somehow this was all my fault, I
walked down the hall after her.

   "Nat," I said when I reached the doorway.  "I'm sorry.  I don't know
what else to say."

   "I was just trying to fit in at school," she said.  "I'll try to dress
differently, if that's what you want."

   "No, forget I said anything, okay?  I'll just have to deal with it," I
said, causing Natalie to smile.

   "I know how you deal with it, remember?  Besides, I found your towel."

   "Shit."

   "Pretty gross, Dan."

   "Sorry," I mumbled, embarrassed that my sister had found my version of
the sock or rag that every man has, but seldom has to be confronted with.

   "Don't worry about it.  I was doing laundry and started digging around
in your room.  My God, you must jack off all the time," Natalie blurted,
quickly covering her mouth as she realized what she had said.

   "It's okay," I laughed.  "It's a pretty old towel."

   "I'll say."

   "Are you okay?" I asked finally.  "This has been really difficult for
me, and I don't want to freak you out."

   "Why would I be freaked out?" Natalie wanted to know.

   "Because...  I'm your older brother and lately all we seem to talk about
is sex, and I sort of feel like you might think I'm coming onto you
somehow."

   "Are you?" Natalie asked.

   "No.  No, I'm not," I said.  "I told you this before.  You look really
good, but dammit!  You're my sister.  Now, go find yourself another
girlfriend, okay?" I joked, hoping the conversation was over.

   To my relief, my sister nodded and I quickly went back to my own room,
where despite my best efforts, I masturbated furiously, almost the entire
time to the image of Natalie, in various states of undress.

   *****

   The next day was difficult for me.  After getting to school, I was
forced to be with Heather for most of the morning.  Dr.  Bergerud had been
out of town over the weekend, interviewing for a teaching position out west
somewhere, and seemed hopeful.  I hoped for his sake he was successful, but
I knew that if he was it would put that much more pressure on me to take
his position here.

   But that was the least of my worries as I worked with Heather.  As
always she was cordial but cool, and as we spent the morning going over
recital schedules and stuffing choir folders full of music for the freshman
groups, I felt as if I was somehow an intruder in her life.  Where we used
to sit together, enjoying the closeness, we now sat as far apart as
possible, communicating only when absolutely necessary.

   "Penny for your thoughts?" I asked suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable
silence.

   "You'd get change back," Heather answered.  "I'm trying not to think
right now.  Just, do your work and let's get out of here, okay?"

   "Fine," I said bitterly.  I grabbed another folder and began filling it
with the fall semester's music.  If Heather didn't want to talk, then I
didn't either.

   Finally we were done and Heather collected her things and left.  I
waited around for another twenty minutes, going over theory placement
tests, until finally deciding to go home.  As I was dragging myself from
the music office, Dr.  Bergerud called out to me.

   "What's up?" I asked, trying to appear far more upbeat than I truly was.

   "How did everything go today?" he asked.

   "Fine.  We got all the projects done.  Why?"

   "Did you talk at all?" he wanted to know, and I began to wonder if the
entire episode had been a setup for the two of us, Heather and I, to make
peace.  If so, it had been a miserable failure, and I told him so.

   "Was that why you had us do that today?" I asked, my suspicions
confirmed by the small smile he gave in response.  "No.  We didn't talk.  I
tried to...  again, but she didn't seem interested in anything but getting
out of here as fast as possible.

   I sat down heavily in a chair, my chin resting in the palm of my hand. I
was tired, not just from my feelings about Heather, but about everything.
Classes I was taking, classes I was teaching, my growing, unbrotherly
feelings toward Natalie, and to try and deal with Heather on top of all of
it...  I needed a break.  But apparently that was not to be.

   "What did you say to her?" Dr.  Bergerud wanted to know.

   "I don't know.  Just...  stuff, I guess."

   "But nothing important, right?"

   "What do you mean?"

   "Nothing about the two of you?" he asked.

   "Is there a two of us?" I wanted to know.  I was practicing being the
teacher at this point, replying with a question of my own.

   "Do you want there to be?" Dr.  Bergerud replied, not to be outdone.

   "Does it matter what I want?" I asked.  "I've tried to be nice, but
every time I start to apologize I freeze up, or Heather seems upset.  I
don't know what to do."

   "If you really want her back," Dr.  Bergerud said.  "You have to talk to
her.  Really talk.  And be ready to listen in return."

   "Is that it?" I asked.  "Is that really all she wants?"

   "Maybe you should ask her yourself," he said, giving a tiny wave toward
the door.

   I closed my eyes, knowing what was coming, but it was still a surprise
when she spoke.

   "It is," I heard from behind me and my heart leaped to my throat. 
"That's all I want." I whipped around and there she was...  her cheeks
streaked with tears and a tiny smile on her lips.

   "Hi," I said weakly.

   "Hello."

   Part Eleven

   "Heather," I gasped.  I didn't know what to say.  How long had she been
standing there?  How much had she heard?  There was really only one thing
to do, so I sucked it up and did it.  "I'm sorry," I said, standing as I
spoke.  I walked over to Heather, unsure of exactly where we stood, but she
silenced the doubts I had running through my mind as she opened up her arms
and launched herself at me.

   "Me too," she cried, dampening my shirt with her tears.  We hugged for a
long time until at last there was a little sound as Dr.  Bergerud stood,
clearing his throat to get our attention.

   "I think I'll go for a walk," he said absently, giving us a wave as he
left his office.  "Yes, I think a walk would be very nice right about now."
Dr.  Bergerud chuckled as he walked down the hall, the sound echoing down
the deserted hallway until he reached the double door leading to the small
courtyard just outside the offices.

   The doors shut and Heather and I looked at each other.  We were
together, alone after almost two months.  I had so many things to say, and
I was terrified to say them.

   "Hi," I said quietly as Heather walked further into the room.  She sat
at a chair beside Dr.  B's desk, her hands in her lap, fitfully twisting a
paper napkin, turning and pulling it to shreds between her fingers.  She
glanced down at my amused smile and shyly put the napkin on the corner of
the desk.

   "Hi," she answered at last, breaking the silence that seemed almost
overbearing in the small office.

   "Hi," I said again, feeling foolish to be repeating myself.  Confidence!
I wanted to scream at myself.  I closed my eyes and took a few deep
breaths, trying to calm down at least a bit, before opening my mouth to
speak.

   "Daniel, I'm..." Heather started, but I finally had enough courage to
shake my head, interrupting her words.

   "I'm sorry," I said.  "I'm so...  so sorry.  I blew it," I continued. 
"There's no question, I blew it."

   "Daniel, stop," Heather said, reaching out to put a finger to my lips,
quieting me immediately.  I had more to say, so much more, but her finger
burned where it touched me.  Her very presence was electrifying, and now
her touch was exhilarating.  I reached up to hold her hand in mine and
brought them down, clasped together.

   "What?" I asked.

   "I need to apologize," she laughed anxiously.  "You can't go first."

   "I have to," I said.  "I have to.  A lot of this is my fault," I went
on, to Heather's obvious amazement.  "A lot of this could have been
avoided, months ago, if I'd just talked to you when I had questions, or was
uncomfortable...  with anything!"

   "But I'm the one..." she started, but now I was the one reaching out my
hand to her.  I pressed a finger against her lips, Heather's eyes widened
as the touch jarred her into silence.  We stared at each other, eyes locked
together, as my finger slowly pulled back from her lips.  I traced a line
up and down her jaw, remembering what it was like to touch her, to be
touched by her.

   Heather shivered as my hand finally slid down past her chin and away,
and I smiled as she unconsciously leaned forward to keep the contact for as
long as possible.  My other hand was still holding hers and I gave a gentle
squeeze.

   "I'm sorry," I repeated.  "I shouldn't have reacted like I did.  I don't
know why you were doing what you did, and I want to know," I said, nodding
slightly that I was serious.  "I need to know why you did some of the
things you did, but..." and here I paused, looking for the right words.

   "What?" Heather asked, during the silence.

   "I'm ready to listen now," I said.  "I wasn't before, but now I am."

   *****

   I'd like to say that after our little reunion, Heather and I returned to
my apartment together, where we immediately jumped in bed together, making
up for so much lost time.  I'd like to say that.

   But that wasn't the case.  We had to talk first; we both knew it,
although I'm sure neither one of us was really looking forward to it all
that much.  But I was confident I would be able to stay calm, and hoped the
talk would go smoothly.

   In fact, though our conversation had not gone as well as I'd hoped it
might, it did go well.  I felt I was much more open-minded than I had been
before, and I certainly kept my calm, but while I didn't allow my temper to
explode like the last time we'd spoken, I certainly had questions.

   "I don't get it," I said.  "This had been going on how long?"

   "I met Stacey at the club," Heather explained again.  "It was right
after I got fired from Pablo's.  You had taken me in, and suddenly I had
this great job."

   "But what happened there?" I asked.  I was convinced something had
occurred at the club, something that I was going to hate hearing about, but
felt I needed to know.  "Is that where you got all those...  ideas?" I
pressed.  The night Heather had tried her bondage games on me was one of
the most frustrating of my life, and I just knew it was somehow related to
her work.

   "Nothing happened there," she answered in frustration.  "I mean, yes,
that's where that came from," she said.  "A lot of the guys at the club
seemed to like being tied up, being dominated, and I thought you might."

   "So you were trying this out at work before you tried it out on me?" I
asked.

   "No!" she said.  "Daniel...  all I did at work, all I did, was act as
hostess.  Not like that," she said when I made a face.  "I brought the
members into the main dining room, took their coats, that kind of thing. 
Nothing more."

   "What about...  the stuff from Stacey?" I asked, knowing that many of
the toys and paraphernalia she had brought home had belonged to Dr.  B's
wife.

   "That had nothing to do with work," she answered.  "Except that's where
I got the idea." She blushed at some memory.  "Nothing happened at work,"
she repeated.  "But sometimes I watched." she blurted, now turning almost
accusing.  "You would have watched too.  It was exciting!"

   I thought of my sister now, naked with Chris on the couch, or even
wandering around the apartment as she often did, and I knew how Heather
felt.  Watching two people, man and woman, two women together, or even one
woman by herself, could be exhilarating, far beyond the rush of watching
two porn actors slamming together on a TV, and I nodded in agreement.

   "Maybe," I said carefully.  "Okay, probably," I agreed.  "But the night
you tried it out on me was definitely not exciting."

   "Then I didn't do it right," Heather groused.  "But you...  you didn't
need to be such an asshole about it."

   "I'm sorry," I said, clenching my fists in frustration.  She's right, I
said to myself.  You know she's right.  Heather was right, my sister was
right, Dr.  Bergerud was right, they were all right...  I had been an
asshole.  I felt as if I'd had every right to be upset, but I hadn't
handled things well at all.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,"
I repeated, bringing a small smile to Heather's lips.  "I should have
talked with you before."

   "I thought you'd like it," Heather said quietly.  "I was wrong."

   "Maybe not," I replied.  "I sure didn't like it the night you sprung it
on me, but who knows...  maybe you should have taken lessons from Stacey."
I smiled now, feeling we were once again on solid ground.

   "Maybe," Heather answered happily.  "Dan, I'm so sorry," she started
again, but I quickly stopped her apologies.

   "Hold on a sec," I said.  "I just need to know...  what was going on
between you and Stacey the night I walked in on you?" I asked.  "That's
it...  that's all I want to know.  I just need to know what the hell that
was."

   Heather looked down at the floor, her eyes tracing the lines in the
carpet as she paused before answering.

   "Heather?" I asked again.  "What was that?"

   "Stacey," she blurted suddenly, looking close to breaking out in tears.
"That was Stacey's fault."

   "What do you mean?" I asked.  "You were naked, you were whipping her...
I'm sorry if I freaked out, but what did you expect?"

   "I don't know," she said.  "I've always liked girls," she said.  I
wasn't too surprised to hear this from her.  There were too many times we
were together when she commented on how pretty another girl was and I had
certainly been curious, although this was another issue I had never raised
with her.  "I know that's hard for a lot of guys to understand," she
continued, "but I've always been fascinated by them.  My first kiss, my
first experience, was with one of my best friends in junior high.  We
didn't know what we were doing, but it was thrilling.  I felt so alive, so
loved!"

   "What happened?" I asked, wanting to tell Heather how I knew exactly how
two girls could love each other.  Someday I would tell her about my sister,
but now didn't seem the time to go into particulars.  All I could do was
nod in agreement.

   "We grew up, we grew out of it," she replied.  "I started dating boys.
And I loved it!" she exclaimed, blushing a bit at my amused response.  "You
knew that though, didn't you?" she asked.  "Even when I was dating you,
even when we were living together, I needed a woman."

   "Wasn't I enough for you?" I asked, suddenly feeling completely
insufficient and insecure about myself.

   "That's not it!  This has nothing to do with you," Heather said.  "It's
me.  I...  there's something about how I'm wired.  I need men...  God,
right now I need you so bad, but...  I also need women.  I'm sorry."

   "Don't be," I said.  "But, what are we talking about here?  You live
with me and date other women?  The two of us inviting a third person into
our relationship?  What?"

   "I don't know," Heather said miserably.  "Always before I've gone back
and forth, ending a relationship with a guy and moving onto a girl.  That's
what happened right before you, you know.  When I got to college, after
having broken up with my boyfriend, I found someone else, this time a girl,
and we got into a relationship.  A bad one."

   "Bad?" I asked, my jaw tightening in anticipation of what might have
happened.  "Were you hurt?"

   "Not really," she answered.  "More emotionally than physically, I guess.
I thought I was in love again, but then it all went really really bad.

   "Who was she?"

   "You've met her," she said, blushing at something.

   "Who?" I asked.  "I don't think I've met too many of your friends."

   "Not a friend," Heather said emphatically.  "Definitely not a friend. 
Not anymore."

   "Then, who?"

   "Michelle," Heather said, covering her face with her hands.  She looked
at me through her fingers, waiting for my reaction, but I had trouble
placing the name.  The only Michelle I knew was...

   "The waitress from the bar?" I said finally, shocked when Heather
nodded. "You and...  but I thought you hated her!"

   "I do now," Heather said quickly.  "But when I first started working at
the bar, she was nice...  and she was so free with everything.  God, I
envied her.  I knew what she was doing was wrong, but she seemed so at ease
with herself...  so alive!"

   "What happened?" I asked, remembering how there had seemed to be so much
hatred between the two of them.

   "She got out of control, both with me and at work."

   "That bitch," I spat out.

   "It's not that bad," Heather continued.  "Although I think the reason I
got fired so quickly at work was because everyone there knew that the two
of us, Michelle and me, I mean, had been a couple.  I think they all
thought I was doing guys in the bathroom just like she was, and it was easy
to get rid of us both, just to make sure."

   "But they got rid of everyone," I said.

   "Everyone else quit after I was fired," Heather said.  "I felt so bad
for them.  They didn't need to do that, but I appreciated it.

   "That's horrible," I said in amazement.  "She's even worse than I
thought!"

   "Like I said, she didn't really hurt me physically.  It was mostly
emotional, although you've seen the scar from when she did really hurt me."

   "Scar?  The one by your...?" I sputtered, shocked when Heather nodded.
"I thought you said you got that at a concert?"

   Heather shrugged.  "I lied.  What was a going to tell you?  My old
girlfriend got too rough one day and accidentally marked me?" She giggled
at the thought, laughing through the tears still streaking her face.  "That
would have gone over really well with you."

   "Wow," I said.  "I had no idea."

   "Of course you didn't.  I didn't tell you."

   "I don't understand though.  What does this have to do with what I saw
of you and Stacey together?"

   "Nothing directly," Heather said.  "Just...  I wanted you to know where
I came from before I met you, and...  being with a woman was something I
had missed, since...  well, since before Michelle, really, at least before
she got to be too much.  And Stacey seemed open and willing and...  oh God,
experienced."

   "Experienced, how?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to hear the
answer.  Knowing so much of her history from Dr.  Bergerud, I felt I had a
pretty good idea.

   "She's been at the club a long time," Heather said vaguely.  "She knows
what she's doing."

   "Okay, fair enough," I answered.  "But...  what the hell were you
doing?"

   "Having sex."

   "She was tied up and you were whipping her!" I nearly shouted, almost
losing control.  "Is that really what sex is to you?"

   "No!  No, no, no," Heather pleaded.  "It wasn't like that."

   "But I saw you standing there..."

   "Because she wanted me to do that!" Heather shouted back, almost rising
from her chair.  "She wanted me to do that.  I didn't know what to do... 
she wanted to be tied up and...  she said that was the only way she could
get off," Heather said, her voice lowering to a whisper.  "Please believe
me.  I never meant to hurt you."

   I was stunned to find myself agreeing with Heather.  From what Dr. 
Bergerud had told me, both of his early relationship with his wife and
their relationship now, it was obvious Stacey was a major league
submissive. It certainly made her choice of professions a bit strange, as
she was forced to act the dominatrix, but maybe it all made sense somehow.
Maybe...  I didn't know, but I knew what I had to do.

   "She says she has to be...  abused, in order to feel anything," Heather
continued.

   Suddenly I was faced with an image I didn't want to acknowledge.  Dr. 
Bergerud, my teacher and mentor, appeared to be even more twisted than I
had at first imagined.

   "I can't believe he did that to her," I growled, imagining just what I
could do to him before he transfered to another school.

   "Who?" Heather wanted to know.  "Who did what to her?"

   "Her husband," I said angrily.  "Dr.  Bergerud!  The man who was
supposed to love her and cherish her...  he's worse than a rapist."

   "No!" Heather answered vehemently.  "It's not like that at all," she
said.  "Not at all.  Stacey doesn't do the things she does because he's
forcing her to do them.  She stays with him because he does them."

   "What?"

   "Really," Heather answered.  "It's not like that at all.  The two of
them...  they're perfect for each other.  It's not as bad as you think.  I
mean...  it's twisted, and I could never do some of the things she talks
about, but...  they're a complete pair...  a matching set."

   At that moment I realized she was right...  right about one more thing.
From watching Dr.  Bergerud and the things he had said, comments he had
made...  I was suddenly certain Heather was telling the truth.

   "I believe you," I said, pulling Heather to her feet as I stood in front
of her.  "I do.  I don't know how much you really know about Stacey..."

   "A lot," Heather admitted with a small blush.

   "But I do believe you."

   "Thank you," Heather whispered in a small voice.  My heart pounding, I
pulled Heather close, planting a soft kiss on her lips.  She gave a small
shudder and melted into me, her breasts and thighs pressing firmly against
me as we embraced.  I was instantly hard, my erection pressing against her
soft belly, a fact Heather didn't fail to notice.

   "Sorry," I said in some embarrassment, but Heather only pressed against
me more firmly.

   "Don't be," she murmured, her voice muffled against my chest.  "I like
it.  I've missed it."

   "Me too," I said, stroking my hand up and down Heather's back.  I kissed
the top of her head once before slowly pulling back to look at her.  "Can
we try this again?" I asked.  "Will you forgive me for being such an
asshole?"

   "I'll try," she giggled, wiping tears from her eyes.  "Can you forgive
me for acting like such a slut?"

   "I'll try," I agreed, breaking into what was probably the absolute
biggest grin I'd had cause for in quite a while.

   "Me too," she sighed happily, sinking back into my embrace.  "It's the
least we can do, right?" she asked.

   "Right," I agreed.  "Absolutely right."

   *****

   After our chat, Heather and I had decided to go out to eat and get
reacquainted.  It had only been a couple months, and yet it felt like so
much longer.

   "I've missed this," I said, reaching across the table to hold her hand.
We had decided on a little coffee shop by the college and were sitting
there eating sandwiches and talking.

   "Me too," she agreed, squeezing my hand.  "Daniel?" she asked, her
expression suddenly concerned.

   "Yeah?" I asked, missing her anxiety.  "What's up?"

   "I...  I don't know if I'm ready to move back in with you just yet," she
admitted.  "This has all been so sudden, and so painful, that I don't know
if I could just jump right back into living with you."

   "Who says you're invited back?" I teased, realizing too late how harsh
my words sounded.  "Oh, God.  I'm sorry," I said when I saw Heather's
reaction.  "I didn't mean it like that.  Not at all.  The...  the extra
room is kind of occupied right now," I admitted.

   "Oh?  You shacking up with another woman?" Heather teased.  I was glad
to see her spirits were as high as they were and decided to play along, now
that she didn't seem close to tears.

   "Kind of," I said vaguely.

   "Really?" Heather asked, her eyebrow arched in question.  I could tell
she was anxious, but didn't appear worried about it, so I continued.

   "Oh yes," I said.  "A younger woman, in fact.  Almost a girl.  It's
rough, I tell you...  damn difficult.  See, she keeps running around my
place wearing hardly any clothes.  I can't tell you how often I hear her
masturbating furiously in her bedroom.  I've almost joined her a couple
times," I laughed, mildly concerned with how close to the truth that was.
Natalie was still wearing as little as possible around the apartment, and
while I had never entertained serious thoughts of joining her in her
bedroom, I had absolutely joined her in masturbating, her moans fueling my
fantasies as I stroked myself.

   "And will I get to meet this mystery roommate?" Heather laughed, not
believing for a second, I think, how truthful I was actually being.  "I'd
like to see my competition," she huffed.

   "You've seen her before, if I remember correctly," I said.  "You've
never met, but I know you think she's pretty hot."

   "Really?  You kept pictures of beautiful women around our apartment and
I never said anything about it?"

   I could tell Heather was searching her memory, trying to figure out who
I was talking about, so I decided to put her out of her misery.

   "Only one," I said.  "She's excited to meet you, by the way."

   "Who is it?" Heather asked, the exasperation clear in her voice.

   "Natalie," I laughed.

   "Who?"

   "My sister."

   "You goof!" Heather laughed, kicking me under the table.

   "Ow!" I said in a bit of pain.  "Sharp shoes!"

   "Sorry," Heather mumbled through a smile.  I didn't believe her.

   "Funny you should say that though," I said.  "Calling me a goof. 
Natalie agrees with you."

   "Oh?" she said.  "I think I have to meet her.  I like her already."
There was a glint in Heather's eye when I said this and I felt I needed to
jump in again.

   "Hey now, don't get any ideas.  This is my sister!" I said.  "There's no
way the three of us are doing anything together, got it?"

   "Yes, Sir," Heather saluted, but I still felt a bit uneasy about it.

   *****

   My sister and Heather did get along, fabulously in fact as it turned
out. Sometime near the end of September, Heather and I had finally patched
things up enough that she felt comfortable coming to meet my sister.  I was
concerned the two wouldn't get along, but my fears turned out to be
unfounded, to put it mildly.

   Heather and I hadn't been in the apartment more than fifteen seconds
before Natalie bounced out of her room, thankfully clothed in a fairly
respectable set of sweatpants and t-shirt, and wrapped my girlfriend up in
an enormous hug.

   "So glad to finally meet you!" she gushed, acting so boisterous it was
all Heather and I could do to not burst out laughing.

   "It's very nice to meet you too," Heather finally responded, looking at
me with a look of amusement on her face as the younger woman attempted a
bear hug, nearly succeeding in suffocating my girlfriend, from the look on
her face.

   "Natalie, this is Heather," I said, rather unnecessarily.  "You can let
go of her at any time.  I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

   "Duh," she answered.  "Of course it's Heather!" She laughed, finally
releasing the older girl and dragging her into the kitchen.

   "Where are you guys going?" I asked in astonishment.  The entire
exchange had taken less than a minute and suddenly I was alone while the
two girls entertained themselves in the kitchen.

   "Girl talk!" Heather yelled out through the door.  "Keep yourself busy,
okay?"

   "Whatever," I called back, grumbling under my breath about silly girls.
In all honesty however, I was thrilled the two seemed to be getting along.
I planned on Heather spending a lot of time with me at the apartment, and
if there had been any friction between the two women, it would have been
incredibly awkward.  I groused a bit at being left out of the girls'
festivities, but contented myself with thoughts of what I had planned for
this evening.

   As it was, my ideas for a romantic evening alone with Heather were
thwarted when the two girls came rushing out of the kitchen, arm in arm,
laughing hysterically.

   "You didn't!" Heather laughed, turning back to my sister and nearly
falling down in a fit of giggles.

   "He did so," Natalie said gleefully, smirking at me as she too shook
with laughter.  I began to entertain thoughts of yanking Heather away and
making a break for it, but refrained.

   "And just what might you two be talking about?" I asked, not sure I
wanted to know, judging by how the two seemed to be fighting hard to hold
back even more laughter.

   "Nothing," my sister called over her shoulder as she pulled Heather down
the hallway.  "We'll be in your room for a minute," she said just before
the door closed behind the two of them.  There was a moment of silence
before their laughter once again rang through the apartment, even from
behind the closed door.

   "Heather?" I called out.  "Natalie?  What are you guys up to in there?"
I waited for a moment, but there was no response.

   Sighing, I turned on the television to wait out the girls.  At least
they were having a good time together, I thought, even if it is at my
expense.

   *****

   Classes sucked.  Teaching sucked.  If it wouldn't have been for Heather
and my sister, life in general would have sucked.

   As it was, life was glorious.  I didn't remember ever being any happier
than I was this semester, and not even Dr.  Bergerud's constant questioning
made my life any less sunny.

   "Have you thought about it any more?" he asked early in October.  I had
just walked into his office after saying hello to Katie, who was playing
secretary today.

   "Thought about what?" I asked, knowing full well what he was talking
about, but feeling in the mood to tease him a little.

   "About the position you were offered?" he said, sounding upset.

   "Oh.  That," I said, turning as if to leave.  I heard him sputtering
behind me and was glad my back was to him, so he couldn't see the smirk on
my face.  Serves him right, I thought.

   "And have you come to any conclusions?" he said evenly.

   "I have," I said.  "I have decided that the leaves are too pretty and
the weather too nice to stay inside for another moment.  Katie," I called
as I headed out of the office.  "Would you like to go for a walk?"

   Dr.  Bergerud's cry of frustration was enough to keep the two of us
laughing all the way down the hall.

   "I can't believe you did that to him," she said "You really shouldn't,
you know."

   "Why not?" I asked.  "It's a beautiful day outside and I'm the happiest
man on Earth.  My girlfriend is back, my sister likes her.  Why shouldn't I
have a little fun?"

   "Daddy's under a lot of pressure right now," Katie said.  Her tone was
friendly, but there was an underlying note of seriousness in what she said
and I quickly stopped my silliness and looked over at her.

   "Really?  What's going on?"

   "It's this whole new job, and trying to figure out who's going to take
over for him," she said.  "It's getting to him."

   "I'm sorry," I shrugged.  "I told him during the summer that I would
consider it, and I am.  I really am.  This hasn't been the easiest year for
me so far," I said as Katie grimaced.  She knew what was going on in my
life, and had been supportive of me, even when I wasn't at my best.  "I
promise I'll let him know as soon as I come to some sort of decision."

   "Thanks," she said, taking my arm and snuggling up to me for warmth. 
"I'll let him know; it'll mean a lot to him."

   "So, how's life going for you?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"I hardly see you around the office."

   "Yeah," she snorted.  "Like you care.  The more Heather, the merrier,
right?"

   She was close.  As Katie had taken on fewer and fewer hours, Heather's
schedule had of course increased, until it seemed as if she was there
almost as often as I was.  At first I'd hated it and for a while work had
been awkward because of my unease around Heather.  However, once the
weather of our relationship went from stormy to only slightly cloudy, and
now finally to sunny, I looked forward to work, knowing that at eight
o'clock on the dot, the love of my life would walk through the office
doors.

   "Absolutely," I said, grinning like an idiot, no doubt.  "But seriously,
how's life treating you?"

   "Good," she said after a moment's hesitation.  "I'm...  I'm still
looking though, you know?" Katie had broken off a relationship with a
long-time boyfriend just after school had started for the semester and was
feeling as lonely as I had felt during the summer.

   "I'll let you know if I run across any cute guys," I told her.

   "I'd settle for a cute girl," she sighed.  "At this point I could go
either way."

   I didn't say anything, but found myself playing matchmaker in my head,
wondering if Katie and Natalie would be interested in each other.  It would
certainly make things easier for me, although I didn't know if I was
thrilled about the possibility of my sister hanging around Stacey all that
often.  I didn't blame Katie's mom, at least not entirely, for the
falling-out Heather and I had.  We were all to blame for that, maybe not
all in equal parts, but certainly Stacey wasn't entirely responsible. 
Still, the thought of Katie and my sister as a couple didn't seem all that
far-fetched, and I made a mental note to broach the sister with Natalie the
next time I saw her.

   "You ready to go back?" I asked, finally recognizing that Katie was
beginning to shiver in the cool fall air.

   "Yes," she said quickly, clenching down to keep her teeth from
chattering.  I apologized to Dr.  Bergerud for my attitude on the way back,
but he brushed it off.

   "I understand," he said.  "Just let me know, okay?"

   "Deal."

   *****

   That same night when I got home, I mentioned the possibility to Heather
of Katie and Natalie as a possible couple.

   "I love it!" she said, clapping her hands together in her excitement. 
She had come over for dinner and we were sitting on the sofa together, arms
and legs tangled together under a quilt my grandmother had made.  "I can't
believe you mentioned it though," she said, sounding almost accusing.

   "Mentioned what?" I asked.  "I didn't tell Katie about it, if that's
what you're thinking," I explained.  "I definitely wanted to run it by
Natalie first.  And I wanted to ask you about it."

   "Why me?" Heather asked.

   "Because who knows?  I mean, it could eventually lead to Natalie and
Katie getting a place together," I said.

   "And?"

   "And I'd have all this extra room around here," I said, leaving the
invitation for Heather to move back in unstated.

   "Really?" she said, perking up immediately at the idea.  "And you think
you know someone who might like to fill the vacancy?"

   "I can think of one," I said, pulling Heather close.  I could feel her
heart beating in her chest as she leaned against me.  I took a deep breath,
my senses going into overdrive as I felt her touch and smelled her scent
all at once.  It had been so long that the experience was almost
overpowering.

   "You okay?" Heather asked, a look of serious concern on her face.  I
smiled gently in response.

   "Perfect," I said.  "Couldn't be better."

   We sat there for a moment longer, enjoying each other's company, when
Heather spoke up again.

   "You know," she said.  "If I'm going to be moving in here, I think I
should try out everything, don't you?"

   "I suppose," I said, believing I knew where this was leading.  "What did
you have in mind?" I asked.

   "Well, I've already seen the kitchen and the bedroom, and the living
room of course," she said looking around.  But I didn't get a really good
look at your bedroom the other day," she said, smiling hopefully up at me.

   "And you think you might like to take a deeper look at it?" I asked,
grinning at Heather's apparent eagerness to jump in bed with me.

   "I think it would be a good idea," she said, pressing herself more
tightly against me.

   "Are you sure?" I asked.  I knew we had been kind of tip-toeing around
the subject.  We were almost completely comfortable with each other now,
but things still got awkward at times, and the thought of becoming
completely intimate like that, and what might happen if things went wrong,
gave me butterflies.

   "Completely sure," she said.  "Now get up, I want to try it out."

   "The bed?" I asked.

   "Among other things," she grinned, pulling me to my feet.

   At that, I found myself almost immediately erect and lagged behind as
Heather led me to the bedroom.

   "What?" she asked, turning halfway around to look at me.  I know her
eyes saw the obvious bulge poking out from my slacks and her eyes flicked
back to my face, a hint of amusement in her expression.  "See something you
like?" she asked, giving her butt an extra wiggle as she continued.

   I gave a groan of appreciation and hurried to catch up with her, just
catching her as we reached the door to my room.

   "It's not very clean at the moment," I said by way of an apology.  "I
wasn't expecting...  visitors," I said lamely.

   "That's fine," she grinned.  "And besides, who says I don't want to get
dirty?" She continued on into my room, jumping on my bed and spinning
around to face me, her legs spread slightly as she looked expectantly up at
me.  "Hurry," she said.

   "I'm hurrying," I laughed.  Our eyes met as we both hurriedly removed
our clothing.  Heather was more beautiful than I remembered as she shyly
pulled her blouse from her shoulders, revealing her breasts, encased in a
shiny pink bra.  My cock was rock hard as I frantically pulled my shirt up
and over my head, pausing only to watch as Heather turned away from me,
slipping her skirt down around her ankles.

   "Oh, God," I groaned as I caught sight of the firm cheeks of her ass,
bare because of the tiny thong she was wearing.  "Where did you get that?"
I said, reaching out to run my finger over her smooth skin.

   "You like it?" she teased, reaching out to run her hand up and down my
turgid length.  "Never mind," she giggled, stroking more forcefully as I
pushed myself into her palm.  "I guess you do."

   "You have no idea what you do to me," I groaned as I moved her hand
temporarily to allow myself to quickly shed my remaining clothing.  We were
naked together, finally naked, and I wasted no time in pulling Heather into
a fierce embrace.

   "I don't want to lose you again," I said between kisses.  Our hands
worked feverishly as we teased and pulled at the other's sensitive flesh.

   "You won't," Heather gasped as my hands worked down over her abdomen,
gently teasing her belly before dipping lower to brush through the hair she
had allowed to grow back during our time apart.  I dropped to my knees,
breaking her contact with my prick, which bobbed in the air in front of me,
and leaned closer, smelling the scent of her arousal.

   "Don't move," I whispered, leaning down to run my face down and around
her pubic area.  "Just enjoy this." Her mound was already soaked with her
fluids as I teased at her flesh, first running my fingers alongside her
puffy labia, before pressing lightly against her still covered clit. 
Heather gasped as I used my fingers to separate her outer lips, tugging
gently on the soft skin as I reached out with my tongue, sliding it along
her damp slit.

   "Oh, oh, oh," she panted above me.  I could already feel her legs
starting to shake and carefully pushed her back on the bed.  Heather looked
down at me, her fingers tangled in my hair.  She smiled at me lovingly
before pushing me back down.  I had a job to do and went at it willingly.

   Staying away from the sensitive flesh of her clit and vestibule, instead
focusing on stroking her thighs, bringing mewls of pleasure as my hands
danced over her flesh.  Moving ever closer to her vulva, I dipped my head
down, taking another long swipe at her pussy.  First up one side and then
down the other, again ignoring her most sensitive areas.  My goal here was
for a long, slow buildup, not a sudden, crashing orgasm.  I knew I was on
edge from the excitement, and Heather's wetness and her swollen and open
lips told me she was just as excited, but I wanted this to last.

   "Lay back," I told her, pressing my hands firmly against the top of her
slit.  I could feel her clit, already hard and extended, through her hood
and gently wiggled my fingers over the covering, causing Heather to gasp at
the sensation.  Blowing warm air gently between the damp lips of her pussy,
I carefully pulled at the labia, exposing the bright pink flesh between. 
"You're so beautiful," I said as I leaned in.

   Heather's juices had begun to pool at her opening and I quickly lapped
up the tangy liquid, smacking my lips so loudly that Heather began giggling
in embarrassment.

   "Stop it," she said, threatening to clamp her legs shut around me.  I
resisted, using my leverage and strength to carefully pin her back to the
bed.

   "Can't help it," I said.  "This is what you do to me."

   "I love what you're doing to me," Heather replied breathlessly, her
voice rapidly turning to a high-pitched keen as I again lapped at her
juices, running my tongue up and down her length, paying more attention to
the bundle of nerves just now beginning to peek out from under its hood.

   "More," was Heather's only request as I traced a gentle circle around
her clit, wiggling the flesh, now firmed from her passion.  As Heather's
breathing became heavier I wet a finger in the sticky liquids draining from
her pussy and gently inserted a finger into her wetness.

   "I'm going to fuck you," I said, slowly probing my finger into her
depths.  "I'm going to spread your legs wide open and penetrate your body,"
I promised, the speed of my finger increasing to match the spasms around it
as Heather's arousal increased.

   "Fuck me," she said.  "You can fuck me as long as you want, but let me
come," she pleaded.

   "Soon," I said, slowly pulling my finger out of her clutching tunnel.  I
felt her muscles contracting around my digit, trying in vain to pull me
back in, and when I cleared her outer lips she gave a moan of
disappointment.

   With my finger, still wet with her juices, I traced a line up her torso
and under her soft breasts.  Reaching higher, I traced first one hard
nipple, then the other as Heather arched her back, pressing her breasts
more firmly against my hand.  Teasingly, I pulled away, bringing another
groan from her lips, before quickly standing to my feet.

   Heather immediately looked at me, her eyes hot with lust as she caught
sight of my erection.

   "Put it in me," she demanded, reaching down with her fingers to spread
herself wide for me.  "I'm ready for you.  Take me now," she pleaded.

   "I'm not going to last very long," I apologized in advance.  "It's been
so long for me," I explained as I rubbed the fat head of my prick between
her lips, finally seating myself at her opening.

   "I'm almost there," Heather cried out.  "Do it, do it, do it!"

   Waiting no further, I pressed steadily forward, groaning as I felt
myself enveloped in her warmth and wetness.  She was tighter than I
remembered, her inner muscles far more active around my shaft.  With a
start I realized that she was already in the midst of her orgasm and the
thought caused my own climax to hurry forward.

   Feeling the cum boiling up from my balls I leaned over, pressing my
mouth to hers in a fit of passion.  Our tongues sought out each other, our
mouths frantically twisting and sliding around as my balls pulled up tight
against my body.

   "Here I come," I warned loudly.  As my sperm flowed through my shaft I
pressed ahead as far as I would go until our groins were sliding against
one another.  Finally, when I wondered if I could stand it any longer, I
felt myself explode inside her.  Heather screamed as she felt me coating
the inside of her pussy with my sperm, my motions jerky and spasmodic as my
orgasm crashed through me.

   I may have blacked out for a moment because the next thing I knew, the
two of us were lying side by side on the bed, still joined together.

   "Oh my God," I moaned, reaching around to cup her breasts in my hands.
Heather simply sighed in pleasure at my touch.  We spoke no further words,
falling asleep in each other's arms, but my last thought was that after so
long apart, it was good to finally be home.

   Part Twelve

   I awoke sometime later to a gentle, warm sensation surrounding my cock.
I realized I could feel a weight pressing against my thigh and squinted my
eyes open a crack.  Heather was leaning over my legs, her back to me and
although I could not see, the feeling of wetness and suction on the head of
my prick left me no doubt about what was going on.

   I tried to maintain the illusion that I was sleeping, but something must
have alerted Heather to the fact I was awake and she turned, breaking her
oral contact with my erection, although she maintained a steady grip with
her hand.

   "Morning," she whispered shyly.  "How do you feel?"

   "Great," I replied happily, reaching down to stroke her long hair.  I
never tired of running my fingers through her locks and this morning was no
different.  "Been at it long?" I asked and flexed my muscles, causing my
cock to lurch in her hand.  She blushed, squeezing tighter in response to
my movement and sped her motions.

   "Not too long," she said.  "I woke up a few minutes ago with this," she
teased, squeezing almost hard enough to cause me to cry out, "poking me in
the butt."

   "What can I say," I said sleepily.  "It knows what it wants."

   "Well, it's not getting in there," she said pointedly, twitching her
behind for emphasis.  "But there are plenty of other places it can go," she
giggled.

   "And it seems you found one," I pointed out.

   "Hey, it was right there," Heather said with mock innocence.  "I had to
investigate."

   "And thank you so much for being so thorough!" I laughed.  "Now... 
don't mind me," I said.  "You may continue as you were."

   "Thank you kind Sir," Heather said as she turned.  I scooted up in bed
so my back was against the headboard.  My movement caused Heather to turn
back to me, a question in her eyes.

   "I want to watch," I said, my voice deepening with my desire.

   "You want to see me taste your cock?" Heather said, her lips bright pink
in the morning light.  I nodded frantically to Heather's amusement, but she
obliged me by turning her body around so I had a clear view of all the
proceedings.

   She was as naked as I was, the evidence of the previous night's
activities still evident around her thighs and I realized I was certainly
going to enjoy washing her body in the shower later this morning.  My
thoughts were interrupted as once again her mouth descended on my prick,
engulfing first the head and then as much of my shaft as she was able.

   I groaned as I watched her sink down on my cock, taking in inch after
inch until finally there was but a small portion of my shaft outside her
mouth.  My groans turned to a gasp of surprise as I felt the head of my
cock bump against the back of her throat.  Heather made a small choking
sound and I prepared to back away as best as I was able.  Before I could
move, Heather made a tiny motion with her head for me to remain motionless.
and before I could respond I felt the head of my cock being literally
swallowed down her throat.

   "Holy shit," I swore as Heather's throat muscles worked over my prick.
"Where did you learn...?"

   Heather, her mouth full of my prick attempted to answer, making instead
an unintelligible, mumbling sound around my cock which caused me to burst
into laughter.  There was a snort of indignation as my laughing forced more
of my prick into her throat than she was prepared for, but soon her
surprise turned to laughter and once again I was groaning as the ripples
tore up and down my cock.  It felt like a vibration from a washing machine
had focused on my cock and I nearly screamed at the sensation.

   Heather's mouth wasn't the only part of her pleasuring me.  As she
sucked down her throat, Heather was also toying with my balls, gently
rolling them between her fingers.  She was always careful not to squeeze
down on them too hard, but put just enough pressure to have me feeling the
effects of her blowjob far sooner than I would have normally.  Occasionally
I felt one of her fingers stray even lower, scratching lightly with a
fingernail against the tight pucker of my anus.  She attempted to breach
the opening once, but I flinched and she pulled away, giggling at my
paranoid response.

   "Hey, you didn't want me going anywhere near your butt," I accused,
causing Heather to giggle even harder.  Her laughter caused her breasts to
shake and I found myself transfixed by them.

   As if for the first time, I really watched Heather's breasts, twin
apples hanging from her chest and I reached out to cup one firm orb. 
Heather again moaned at my touch, setting off another tingling sensation,
one that this time traveled into my balls, and I felt myself, far too soon
in my opinion, readying to empty my load directly down Heather's throat.

   "Careful," I said by way of warning.  "I'm not going to last too much
longer." I teased one of Heather's nipples, the rubbery tip stiffening as I
toyed with it.  I continued manipulating her tender flesh, alternating from
breast to breast as Heather continued her oral assault on my member.

   Just as I felt the first stirrings of my orgasm, Heather pulled away, a
trail of saliva connecting her upper lip to the head of my prick.  Pausing
only to give me a quick kiss on the lips, Heather threw a leg over my hips,
rubbing the distended lips of her pussy up and down my shaft to ready
herself.  Rising up on her knees, Heather grabbed me by the shaft,
positioning me at the entrance to her quim and prepared to settle down onto
my cock.

   Surprising her, I grabbed Heather by the hips and thrust upward, fully
seating myself in her pussy.  Heather let out a squeal as I invaded her
warmth, causing me to worry momentarily about Natalie waking up.

   I threw back my head, closing my eyes and just experiencing the
sensations as Heather pumped up and down in my lap.  Her hands were resting
on my chest as her hips slammed against mine.  I felt a blast of hot air
against my face and opened my eyes in time to see Heather's mouth closing
in on mine.  I opened my lips, accepting her tongue as we teased and tasted
each other.

   When we finally broke the kiss Heather leaned back, her hands now
supporting her on the bed as she raised and lowered herself languidly on my
prick.  I noticed, to my surprise, a small form against the far wall of my
bedroom and in a flash realized the two of us were not alone.  Leaning up I
grabbed one of Heather's arms, pulling her down for another kiss.  As she
leaned close I tilted my head, whispering in her ear.

   "Keep moving," I said.  "Natalie's watching us from the hallway."

   "Oh my God," Heather whispered back.  "What's she doing?"

   I looked over Heather's shoulder under the guise of reaching around to
cup her buttocks, and what I saw nearly floored me.  My little sister, all
grown up now, was splayed out in the hallway, her legs spread wide as she
leaned back against the door.  Like the two of us, Natalie was completely
naked and as I watched, her hands alternated between teasing her breasts
and thrusting wildly into her bare pussy.

   "She's fucking herself," I blurted quietly, running my tongue alone the
edge of Heather's neck.  She shuddered as I teased the sensitive skin,
taking time to kiss along the bottom of her jaw and into the hollow of her
throat.  "She's watching you ride my cock and she's touching herself," I
said.  I felt Heather's pussy spasm around my cock as I spoke, whether from
my words our our love-making I couldn't tell.

   "That's so hot," Heather moaned quietly, her mouth close to my ear.  We
were completely wrapped together, as close as two people could be as we
discussed my sister.  "It's kind of kinky though," Heather moaned as my
cock twitched inside her.  "Do you think she gets off watching you like
this?" she asked.

   "Maybe," I grinned, thrusting five or six times in quick succession.  I
felt Heather's pussy give another squeeze to my shaft, followed quickly by
a flood of her juices as her body shook with a small orgasm.  I watched as
Natalie began twisting her nipples.  It was hard to see in the dimly lit
hallway, but she appeared to be totally engrossed in our activities, her
mouth open as her fingers plunged into her wet hole.  I know it was my
imagination, but I almost believed I could hear the sucking sound her
fingers made as she played with herself.

   "Maybe?" Heather groaned, her hands reaching down between our bodies to
finger her clit.  She stiffened as another tremor passed through her
abdomen.

   "You know she likes girls," I said, reaching up to tweak Heather's
already stiff nipples.  "Who says she's getting off looking at me?"

   This must have been the right trigger, for before I could move Heather
began shaking and crying out above me.  Her pussy clamped down tight on my
shaft and I felt myself spurt out my own orgasm almost immediately.  We lay
there as our energy ebbed and our combined liquids spilled out, coating her
pussy and my thighs.

   By the time I looked up again, Natalie had already left, and without
another word Heather and I fell asleep once again.

   *****

   I awoke for the second time that morning with sunshine streaming in
through the window, surprised to find myself alone.  Stretching the kinks
out of my muscles I stood, yawning fiercely.  Even with the amount of sleep
I had received I was still tired.

   I threw on a pair of boxers, deciding to forgo any shirt or other
clothing.  I rationalized that both of the women in the apartment had
already seen me in far less and that the three of us really had nothing to
be embarrassed about.  Trying to comb my hair with my fingers, I went off
in search of Heather, a task that proved to be not too difficult,
considering the size of the apartment.

   "Morning, Sunshine," I grinned when I found her in the living room. 
Heather was sitting on the couch, a mostly empty bowl of cereal in her lap
as she read the morning paper.

   "Hey, lover" she smiled up at me, a dribble of milk escaping from the
corner of her mouth.  I wiped the drop of milk up, bringing it to my lips
and tasting the remains of some kids' cereal.

   "Yum," I said.  "Sugary goodness...  breakfast of champions, eh?"

   "Yeah.  It was all I could find," she answered.

   "Where's my sister, by the way?" I asked, glancing around the room.

   "Not sure," Heather shrugged, but I realized the answer when I happened
to glance at the clock.

   "Never mind," I said.  "She has a couple of really early classes twice a
week, and think today's the day.  I should probably be getting ready too,"
I said.  "Do you work today?"

   "No," Heather answered, shaking her head.  "Katie took my shift a couple
weeks ago.  Says she has plans tomorrow, so we switched." Heather got a
seductive look in her eye as she looked me up and down.  "Are you sure you
have to work today?" she asked, licking her lips suggestively.

   "Yes," I groaned.  "Believe me, if I could get away with spending the
rest of the week...  heck, the rest of the semester, alone with you...  I'd
do it in a heartbeat."

   Heather pouted for a moment, her frown turning to a grin as she smiled
up at me.

   "Fine," she said.  "Just wait until your sister gets home.  I'll just
have to see if I can seduce both brother and sister today."

   "She'd like that, I think," I shrugged, a cold chill going through me.
Was she serious?  After everything we'd talked about, she was making jokes
about this?

   Heather must have sensed my frustration, for she quickly stood and
walked over to me.

   "Oh, Daniel," she said, brushing her fingers through my hair.  "I'm
sorry.  I didn't mean it."

   "No, that's okay," I shrugged.  "I'm still a little touchy... 
especially about that.  And...  I've been confused about a lot of things
lately."

   "You mean like wanting to jump your sister's bones?" Heather giggled. 
My eyes must have bugged out of their sockets at that and I stood there
speechless.

   "What?"

   "Girls talk, dummy," she laughed.  "What do you think Natalie and I were
talking about the other week?"



   "I'm not sure that I want to know," I admitted.  "But...  what?"

   "You."

   "And what exactly about me?" I wanted to know.

   "Just how big a pervert you really are," Heather answered.  "She talks
about you all the time, you know.  Talks about how you walked in on her,
and how you admitted thinking about her.  I think she kind of likes it,"
Heather continued.  "Maybe you should give it a chance."

   "She's my sister," I blurted out.  "I wouldn't ever..."

   "What about last night?" Heather asked pointedly.  "I could tell how
excited you got when you realized she was watching us.  All of a sudden you
got so hard inside me.  Even before you told me I could tell something was
happening."

   "Oh, God.  I'm so sorry," I said.  Everything Heather was saying was
true, of course.  I had been fantasizing about Natalie and although I had
no intentions of ever making a pass at her, I had to admit the idea was
incredibly arousing, mainly because of how forbidden it was.

   "I'm not upset," Heather said to my amazement.  "She really looks up to
you know, almost like a father.  And I think every girl wants to make Daddy
proud, don't you?"

   "I wouldn't know," I stammered.

   "All I'm saying is, I don't think it would be the worst thing in the
world.  She's awfully cute, you know."

   Suddenly things became crystal clear and once again I nearly flew into a
fit, reining myself in at the last minute.

   "Is that what this is all about?" I asked.  "Do you just want to get in
bed with my sister?"

   "Maybe," Heather grinned.  "But that's not why I brought it up."

   "Then why?" I asked.  Heather got a wry smile on her face.

   "You're not going to want to hear this," she said.  "But I want to do
this for us."

   "I'll let you explain this before I explode," I said.  "Because you've
said this before."

   "And I was wrong before," she admitted.  "But this time I think I'm
right."

   "Okay.  Talk," I said through gritted teeth.

   "Daniel, ever since I've come here, and probably before, the two of you
have been tip-toeing around each other as if you're walking on eggshells.
The way Natalie looks at you sometimes almost makes me jealous."

   "She doesn't..."

   "She does," Heather interrupted.  "I know you're not looking for it, but
you watch her the same way.  I have to admit the way she prances around
here wearing what she does really can't help matters, but the two of you...
there's some weird energy between you two, and I don't like it."

   "So this has nothing to do with you liking girls?" I asked.  "This is
why you bring up...  a threesome?  For me?" I asked.  "And with my sister,
of all people!"

   "Especially since I've brought it up before and you've ignored the
idea?" Heather asked.

   "Exactly.  Why now?  What's different about this?"

   "For one thing, she's your sister," Heather said, pointing out what I
thought was the biggest, and most obvious sticking point.

   "Duh."

   "Let me finish," Heather snapped.  "You have no idea what I'm going
through here.  When...  back before Europe, every time I brought up the
idea to you I was joking, but deep inside I was terrified."

   "Really?" I asked in amazement.  "I thought you were trying to push me
into something I didn't want to do."

   "You want it as much as the next guy," Heather said, rolling her eyes in
exasperation.

   "Maybe," I admitted.  "But it's nothing I'd ever do, and especially not
with my sister!  And what were you scared of anyway?" I asked.

   "I'm scared...  terrified actually, of losing you."

   That shut me up quick.  I had assumed Heather wanted a threesome for the
chance to be with another woman, under my watchful eye and with my
blessings, but now she was telling me she wanted to do it because...  I
didn't quite understand why.

   "Explain that, please."

   "Before, I was saying it just to hear you say you weren't interested. 
Every time I brought it up, I was hoping you'd say no and it was a huge
relief when you did.  You never disappointed me, and I loved you all the
more for it."

   "So why keep bringing it up?" I asked.

   "Back then, it was because I'd keep seeing you looking at other women.
Not seriously, I know.  But you were still looking, and I was insecure."

   "Why?"

   "Because they were prettier, or smarter, or more worldly than I was,"
Heather said.

   "Bullshit.  They weren't."

   "Well, I thought they were, and I was always scared you'd leave, so I
just wanted to hear you tell me that I was enough for you."

   "More than enough," I said truthfully.  "More than I ever imagined or
deserve."

   "You're too good to me," Heather whispered, reaching out and running her
hand up and down my arm.

   "Then why bring it up now?  And why with my sister?"

   "Because, I know it's something you want.  You just admitted it, even
though I know...  I know you'd never do it, but I know you're interested in
it."

   "All guys are, or so you say."

   "And they are.  But I'm terrified of it, but I want to do it too," she
said.

   "Because you like girls too?"

   "Yes."

   "Then why be scared?" I asked, not understanding what I thought was her
irrational fear.  Once again Heather explained it to me, and I knew
immediately she was right.

   "Because," she said.  "I just couldn't do it.  It'd be way too strange.
Scary, even.  I mean, what if you left me for the other girl?  Especially
after I begged and pleaded for this to happen!  What would that say about
our relationship?  Or what if I fell in love with the other girl, or you
fell in love with both of us?  I couldn't do that!"

   "Why not?" I asked.  "I'm not interested in that kind of a relationship,
but a lot of people do that."

   "I couldn't," Heather said.  "It was so rough on me after Europe,
knowing what you thought of me after seeing me with another woman."

   "It wasn't just the other woman," I said, remembering the look in her
eyes and the riding crop in her hand.

   "But that was part of it," Heather persisted.  "And then I was only
answering questions from you.  What if everyone knew what kind of a
relationship we were involved in if we invited in a third person?  I
couldn't handle everyone knowing about it, and understanding that they
disapproved."

   "I understand all the reasons you wouldn't want to do this," I agreed,
pressing forward despite my reluctance to hear her reasons for the
threesome.  "Because I feel the same way.  What I don't understand is why
you now are pushing for this," I said.  "Why now?  Why with Natalie?  Why
the three of us?"

   "Because I'm still insecure, for one thing.  But at the same time I want
to do this, and I think it's the safe way."

   "Safe?  How is this safe?"

   "First, because she's your sister."

   "That makes no sense," I said in amazement.

   "Yes.  It does.  Are you going to fuck her?" Heather asked suddenly.

   "No!  I already told you that."

   "Okay.  So, we don't need to worry about you falling in love, do we?"

   "No.  Because I already love her, but not like that," I said pointedly.

   "And we already know that you enjoy watching your sister have sex,
so..."

   "It's not because she's my sister," I objected.

   "Fine.  You like watching two women have sex.  Fair enough?"

   "I suppose."

   "Of course you do.  You're a guy," she grinned.  "And I like having sex
with other women, right?"

   "Apparently," I answered glibly, earning myself a punch in the arm. 
"Hey!"

   "You deserved that," Heather answered archly.  "Now, where was I?"

   "Having sex with another woman...  my sister, I might add.  Apparently
you enjoy that."

   "I do," Heather grinned.  "But I know that makes you nervous."

   "Damn right."

   "So, your sister ought to be the safest person out there.  You aren't
going to want to touch her, so I don't have anything to worry about, since
you won't leave me for her.  I'm going to enjoy it, because it's something
I like to do, and frankly, knowing you're going to be watching would make
it all the more exciting, since I'll be performing for you, in a way.  And
you'll get to be a voyeur, which we know you like."

   "So it's perfect, then?" I asked.  "You're thinking that you get to make
out with another woman, one you find attractive, I get to watch two sexy
women loving each other and that's that?  Perfect, huh?" Surprisingly, I
could see where she was going with her arguments, although this was
certainly a discussion I would have never expected to have.

   "Almost."

   "So, what's the hitch?" I asked.

   "I could still fall in love with your sister."

   "And?"

   "And leave you for her," she said miserably.

   At that my blood did run cold.  That possibility hadn't occurred to me.
I didn't know if Heather was serious, or if I thought Natalie would ever do
that to me, but as tempting as it was to call in sick, I knew I couldn't.
Not that I was thrilled that Dr.  Bergerud kept asking me about taking over
him.  I didn't like the pressure, but I liked the respect it showed he had
for me, and if I started acting all flaky, I knew I would lose that
respect.

   I was running extremely late, and was fortunate that my first commitment
of the day was as late as it was.  Even with the late start, I wasn't going
to have any prep time to get ready.  I looked at the clock, exasperated by
this point with the entire conversation.  "So why even bring it up in the
first place?" I asked.  "If you think you might leave me?"

   "Because you don't need to worry about that," Heather said, looking at
me fiercely, as if somehow trying to convince me.  "I love you too much to
ever do that to you again."

   Suddenly things did start falling into place.  It was a brilliant, but
incredibly flawed plan.  It got the two of us what we wanted, what Heather
claimed we both needed, to strengthen our relationship, or in reality what
she thought we needed to strengthen our relationship.

   I could see where she was coming from, and that frightened me, because I
had never felt the need to look outside what we got from each other to make
me happy.  I was perfectly content.  But then I thought of Dr.  Bergerud
and Stacey, and how they had an incredibly complex and complicated history.
Their life was something I wouldn't want, at all, I thought.  But it did
seem to work for them.

   I was almost at the point of saying yes to Heather's idea, but there was
just one hitch.

   "Who knows what Natalie will think about this?" I asked as I stood. 
"Have you talked to her yet?" Heather shook her head 'no.' "Then maybe it's
a bit too early to be making plans, don't you think?"

   "Yes," Heather answered meekly.  "Did you want to talk with her?" she
asked.

   "I think we both should," I said as I stood to leave.  "You can tell her
all the reasons you think this is a good idea, and then I'll let my sister
know exactly why I have reservations about sleeping with her," I said,
knowing how strange that really sounded.  I'd never expected to have those
words escape from my lips, but here it was.

   "Okay."

   I bent down kiss Heather on the lips.  I could still taste the sugar on
her lips and made her giggle as I made a production of licking up every
last bit of sweetness I could find.

   "Thank you," she said.  "Thank you for listening to me.  Thanks for
giving this a chance."

   *****

   As it turns out I made it to my classes on time, but it was a different
story a couple weeks later.  It was closer to Halloween, and we had the
first big snow of the season.  What with shoveling the snow and the
incredibly timid drivers I was pushing the limit bigtime.

   I ran into the music department, as late as I ever wanted to be,
frantically pulling off my coat as I came through the door.  I shouted out
a "hello" to Katie as I sprinted past the office and waved at Dr.  Bergerud
as we nearly collided in the hallway.

   "What's up?" he called after me as I fumbled through the junk on my
desk.

   "Have you seen the snow out there?" I snapped, immediately regretting
the harshness of my words.  "Sorry," I apologized.  "I'm running really
late this morning."

   I made it to my class a few minutes late.  Happily my students all
thought I was the greatest teacher in the world, or else it was still too
close to the start of the year for them to feel comfortable leaving, for
all of them were still seated and waiting for me when I arrived.

   "Sorry," I said.  "Now, where were we..."

   After class I managed to corner Dr.  Bergerud before he left for lunch.
Our schedules weren't often aligned enough for us to eat together and today
was no exception, but I wanted a quick chat.  And a chance to apologize for
the last time he had mentioned the job situation.

   "Sorry about the other day," I said.  "I know you're under a lot of
pressure with the new job and all that."

   "Not a big deal," he said, waving off my apology.  "I was a little
frazzled and took it out on you."

   We grinned awkwardly at the sudden end to the discussion.  I think we
both had been prepared for it to take longer to settle our differences.

   "So," he said.  "Just out of curiosity, what are your thoughts?"

   "Seriously?  I'm leaning toward taking the position.  But," I said when
Dr.  Bergerud appeared ready to start clapping.  "I'd like to know a little
bit more about what's expected of me, and how much of your class load I'd
be taking on, if that's okay?"

   "Certainly.  Absolutely.  Of course!" Dr.  Bergerud laughed.

   "When's the latest you'd need to know from me, as far as a final
answer?" I asked.

   "January," he answered with little hesitation.  "Preferably before
Christmas, if at all possible."

   That left me around two months, or three if I wanted to take advantage
of the Christmas break, for me to make this life-altering decision.

   "Okay," I said, nodding my head in agreement.  "I can do that.  But...
what if I can't?"

   "What do you mean?"

   "What if I can't make the decision by that date?"

   "Ah.  And you decide later that you would like the job?"

   "Exactly."

   "Well...  your name gets thrown in with all the other applicants, and I
can pretty much guarantee you wouldn't get the job.  Too young, too
inexperienced, no reputation...  those sort of reasons mean the job goes to
someone else."

   I nodded in understanding.  "But...  you'd be willing to give me the job
before anyone else even has a shot at it, because...?"

   "Because you can do it."

   I smiled as Dr.  Bergerud walked down the hallway.  In reality I was
almost one hundred percent certain I was going to take the job.  I wasn't
trying to string him along any longer than necessary, but there were
certainly some other things up in the air in my life, and I wanted to take
everything into consideration.

   That accomplished, I had one more meeting for the day.

   *****

   "Hey, Dan.  How's it going?" Katie asked when I entered the office. 
"Still running around flapping your arms?" she joked.

   "Nah.  Once I got here everything seemed to calm down a bit," I laughed.
"How's it going for you?"

   "Good, I suppose.  How's Natalie doing?" she asked and I knew I'd been
correct in thinking there might be some sort of connection between the two.
Natalie and Katie had met on a few occasions, when Katie dropped by the
apartment to chat or when Natalie had stopped off in the music department
to drop off something for me.

   "Good," I said.

   "She likes girls, right?" Katie asked, and I didn't think I'd ever seen
her more nervous as right then.

   "Yes," I said.  "Why do you ask?"

   "Oh, just curious," she answered vaguely.

   "Uh huh." I said sarcastically.

   "Stop it," Katie laughed.

   "Yes, she likes girls.  A lot," I answered.  Feeling a bit more
confident, and anxious to know her opinion, I gave Katie a quick rundown of
the conversation I'd had with Heather regarding the her proposal of a
potential threesome with my sister.

   "God, that sounds hot," Katie said to my amazement.

   "Seriously?" I wondered.  "You just said you were interested in my
sister, and now...?"

   "Dan, my family is pretty open.  Some might even say we're a bit fucked
up, okay?  This kind of thing isn't all that common, but it's not unheard
of."

   "I suppose," I answered.  "Could I ask you a question?"

   "Sure, shoot."

   "Um...  in Europe, when I walked in on your mom and Heather...  you were
there, but didn't seem to be too involved.  What was going on?"

   It was Katie's turn to blush in embarrassment.

   "I like to watch," she said nervously.  "And my mom gets off on being
watched, and...  Heather didn't seem to mind.  Sorry."

   "Don't be.  I...  I kind of realized that about Heather the other
morning.  It caught me by surprise, but it was kind of exciting how she
responded once she knew someone was watching her."

   "And what about you?" Katie asked slyly.

   "Uh.  Yeah, me too," I said.  "So, you really wouldn't mind?" I asked,
trying to steer to the conversation back to my sister.  "We haven't talked
to her yet, but Heather seemed convinced Natalie would be up for it.  But
if you have problems with it...  I wouldn't want this little experiment to
come between anything the two of you might have."

   "No.  I understand perfectly, and besides...  if Natalie is hung up on
you, this is probably okay.  Just...  one request, okay?"

   "What?"

   "Invite me to watch."

   "Seriously?"

   "God, yes," she answered.  "That would be really...  really great."

   "I'll see what I can do, I guess," I said, ready to leave the office.  A
lot of discussion I'd had lately had been nothing like I'd ever expected.
There was a certain logic to all of them, but it was certainly far beyond
anything I'd ever done, or had expected to do.

   "Cool," Katie grinned as I left.  It was going to be an interesting
couple of months before Christmas break, I had no doubt of that.

   Part Thirteen

   Getting together to chat with Natalie about Heather's proposal took some
time, not because she wasn't available to talk, but because I suddenly got
incredibly cold feet about the entire event.  I put off talking to her
about it for a couple of weeks until, right before Thanksgiving.

   Shortly after I had my discussion with Katie, she had asked my sister
out on a date.  Natalie was a bit nervous about it, not because she thought
I would disapprove or anything, but because she was still a bit nervous
about "coming out" in front of the whole community.

   "It was difficult enough doing that at home, with Chris," she said one
night.  "And that was Mom and Dad and you...  and I knew you guys would
support me no matter what!"

   "What's so different about this?" I asked.

   "I don't know any of these people," Natalie said with a bit of
desperation in her voice.  "What will they think of me?"

   "Who cares what they think?" I said truthfully.  "Do you know any of
them?" Natalie shook her head.

   "Probably not," she admitted.

   "Do you make all kinds of harsh judgments about people you don't know
and will more than likely never see again?"

   "No," Natalie said slowly.

   "So, what's the big deal?" I asked.  "Look, I can understand if you're
nervous, but it's not like people are going to look at the two of you and
immediately start throwing fits about it."

   "I suppose," Natalie said.  "This has all just been too much.  First you
finding out, then Mom and Dad, then Katie asking me out, and...  has
Heather talked to you about what she wants the three of us to do?" Natalie
asked.  I was a bit surprised by her question, because Heather hadn't
mentioned to me that she had discussed anything with Natalie.

   "Uh...  yeah.  We talked about that a few weeks ago," I said.  "When did
you guys talk?"

   "Last night," Natalie said.  "Pretty crazy, isn't it?"

   "Yeah," I said, laughing a bit to dispel my nerves.  "It is a bit
crazy."

   "So, when did you guys want to do it?" she asked.

   "What?" I asked, almost choking on the can of soda I was drinking. 
"Didn't you want to hear my side of it?"

   "Why?  Don't you want to?" Natalie asked.

   "Uh...  well, it's just that..." I trailed off.  Natalie began looking
at me curiously and I suddenly realized that she was right.  I did want to
do this.  Not all the way, but in my most honest moments I found the idea
incredibly arousing.  I just had a hard time admitting that to anyone, most
of all myself.  It was at that moment that I felt myself become happy, as
if a storm had just passed overhead.

   "What?" Natalie asked, noticing my change of expression.

   "Nothing," I shrugged.  "I...  I guess I do want to do this after all. I
mean, are you okay with this?  It's kind of weird, isn't it?"

   "A little bit," Natalie said.  "But really, you've seen me a couple
times, and..."

   "And you returned the favor," I butted in, remembering the morning
Natalie and watched Heather and me in bed."

   "Yes I did, and it was hot," Natalie giggled.

   "I thought you looked kind of into it," I grinned.  "But seriously, this
is fine with you?"

   "You're not going to tell everyone, are you?" she asked.

   "God, no!" I blurted out.  "In fact, I was hoping I wouldn't have to
tell anybody."

   "Then I'm fine with it.  The way Heather talked about it, it would
almost be like the three of were in bed, but it would be two couples.  You
and Heather together so I could watch, and Heather and me together so you'd
get to watch.  Right?"

   "Right," I said quickly.  "And nobody gets to watch the two of us
together, right?" Natalie nodded and I sighed with relief, happy that
everyone now seemed to be on the same page.

   "Cool," Natalie said.  "Then when should we do this?"

   *****

   Some things take time to plan, while some events seem to be ready-made
with little preparation necessary.  The threesome with Heather and Natalie
seemed to be in the first category.

   Nothing seemed to gel for a couple of weeks.  My teaching and concert
schedule right before Thanksgiving was hectic as could be, and because she
worked in the office, Heather's schedule was pretty similar.  I didn't
really know about Natalie's hours, but the fact that Heather and I were so
busy made it moot anyway.

   Then, just after Thanksgiving break I got a call from Heather.  It was
her day off and her quick message was simple and to the point.

   "It's tonight," she said.  "Get here as soon as you can."

   I chuckled as I put down the phone.  As antsy as she sounded, it
wouldn't have shocked me if the two women were already going at it when I
walked into my apartment after school.  And this time, I thought.  I'll be
ready for it.

   I still had one thing to do though, before that happened.  The time was
right, and I walked into Dr.  Bergerud's office, informing him of my
decision.

   "I've decided that you're right," I said as he sat there expectantly. 
"I do want the job.  If the school agrees, I would love it.  Absolutely
love it." I had expected Dr.  Bergerud to be grateful, perhaps even
ecstatic, but his reaction surpassed even that.

   "That is fabulous!" he said, jumping out of his chair to shake my hand.
He laughed loudly, sounding completely thrilled with my decision.  "Oh,
there's so much to do now, so many people to call." Almost immediately it
was if I wasn't there as he began hurrying all over his office, digging up
notes from piles of papers and calling out to Katie to bring him his
coffee.

   She grinned at how happy her father was and gave me a big hug.

   "Thank you for this," she said.  "I know it means a lot to him.  He's
really wanted nothing more than for someone he liked and respected to take
over the work he's done here.  Thank you."

   I returned her hug as best I was able, considering my hands were full of
books of my own.

   "Hey," I called out to Dr.  Bergerud, completely forgetting the phone
call from Heather only hours before.  "You want to come over?  Have a drink
or two?  Celebrate?"

   "Can't.  Busy," was his brusque response.  "Take Katie with you.  She
needs to get out more."

   Katie laughed as I looked at her, slightly bemused.

   "Is that true?" I asked.  "Do you need to get out more?"

   "I think he's just sick of hearing Natalie and me in bed," she grinned.

   "Oh really?" I asked.  "That's going well then?" I asked.  Before Katie
had a chance to respond the events planned for this evening came rushing
back to me.  "Oh shit," I said, grimacing at my memory lapse.

   "What?" Katie wanted to know.

   "Um...  I suppose I can tell you," I stammered.  "Remember the plans
Heather and Natalie had for the three of us?" I asked.

   "Yeah...  are they on?" she asked.  I nodded in response.  "Cool, when?"

   "Tonight."

   "What's the problem?" Katie asked.

   "I just asked you over for drinks.  I don't know if that's such a great
idea!"

   "Nonsense," Katie laughed.  "I already told you I like to watch.  Now,
forget the whole thing and just let it happen." She tapped me on the head,
making a hollow sound with her mouth.  "You think too much, dummy.  Just go
with it.  Besides, I told you to invite me, now let's go!"

   Deciding she was right, I told Katie I would just be a minute.  I went
back to Dr.  B's office, where her father was busy making phone calls and
frantically scribbling on a pad of paper in front of him.  I waited until
he paused in his conversation and mouthed 'goodbye' to him.

   He acknowledged me with an impatient nod and motioned for me to get out.

   I laughed as Katie and I walked out of the building.  I was nervous,
anxious, scared and excited all at once.

   *****

   It was actually somewhat disappointing to find Heather and Natalie
simply chatting on the sofa, when Katie and I entered the apartment,
although that was probably a good thing.

   "Hey, what's up?" Heather said uncertainly when she saw Katie was with
me.  "Daniel?" she asked.

   "She wanted to be here," I said nervously.  I saw Natalie glance back
and forth between Heather and Katie and wondered if this had somehow ruined
the evening.

   "Yeah," Katie chimed in.  "I wanted to watch you three perverts.  Now
get to the fucking!"

   The three of us burst into laughter at Katie's enthusiasm, which
magically worked to ease the tension in the air.

   "Just like that, huh?" Natalie said, getting up from the couch and
walking over to her new girlfriend.  "You want to watch me get it on with
another girl, do you?" she asked.  The two young women stared at each
other, leaning closer and closer until their lips met.  They seemed
oblivious to the fact they were not alone, but neither Heather nor I said a
word as they kissed.

   It was one of the more erotic things I had ever seen, as they seemingly
lost track of themselves in front of us.  As their hands busily slid up and
down each other's backs, stroking gently at the other woman's smooth
bodies, I walked over to Heather, pulling her up from where she was
sitting. My cock had already begun swelling at the sight and sounds the
other two were making, a fact that Heather was quick to notice.

   "Hey guys," she called out to Katie and Natalie, who broke their kiss
quickly, although their hands were still very busy.  "He's ready."

   I grinned in embarrassment at having my condition pointed out like that,
but the other two women just laughed and went back to their kissing.

   "Come on," I said, pulling on Heather's hand to get her moving with me.
"They'll come in when they're ready."

   After Heather and I managed to drag ourselves into the bedroom, she
wasted no time in trying to drag my pants down around my ankles, almost
whimpering in her desire.

   "Slow down," I said, trying to pull her back up to her feet.  "Give me a
kiss." Heather made a face but obliged me, quickly, then tried to once
again remove all my clothing at once.

   "Hurry up," she groaned.  "I'm so hot for you."

   "Don't you want to wait for Natalie?" I asked.  Heather shook her head
as her fingers fumbled with my zipper.

   "Didn't you see the way she was kissing Katie?  Those two will be out
there for hours!"

   "Then maybe we should go out and join them," I said as Heather finally
undid my fly and yanked my slacks down around my ankles.  I stepped out of
them, dressed only in my shirt and briefs.  Slowly, I began unbuttoning the
thin teal-colored blouse Heather was wearing.  If she didn't want to wait,
who was I to complain?  This was her idea, after all.  She was setting the
rules.

   Suddenly though, Heather seemed to slow down, and batted my hands away
from her chest.  I had managed to undo half the buttons and the tops of her
breasts were now visible through the gap I had made in her blouse.

   "Kiss me," she said, taking my hands and draping them around her
shoulders.  I quickly obliged, leaning in for an open-mouthed kiss that
left me reeling.  Heather's tongue was like an eel inside my mouth,
slippery and hard to catch, but I did my best to keep up.  Heather must
have decided I was wearing too many clothes and yanked down my underwear
with one hand, causing my prick to bend painfully before snapping back
upright.

   My groan of displeasure quickly turned to one of ecstasy however as
Heather reached down to fondle my shaft.  At her touch I began moaning in
earnest as her fingers wrap around my cock.  I was semi-hard already, and
her gentle manipulation soon had me at full mast.

   Lowering my hands from around her shoulders, I slid my fingers up and
down Heather's spine, causing her to shiver at my touch.  I traveled even
lower, gently cupping the firm globes of her ass, one in each hand,
squeezing in rhythm with my tongue, which was insistently probing in and
out of Heather's mouth.

   Suddenly we were interrupted as Katie and Natalie, both naked now, burst
into the room.

   "God, you guys are still dressed?" Katie exclaimed, giving the two of us
the once over.  "Nice cock, Dan," she giggled, looking down to where my
erection was jutting out from between the tails of my shirt.

   "Isn't it great?" Heather smiled.  She had somehow managed to remove my
shirt most of the way, all the while continuing her stroking of my cock.  I
shrugged the sleeves off my arms and stood there completely naked.  I
turned my head and noticed Natalie standing there, a shy look on her face
as she watched the two of us.

   "Go," I heard Katie say to my sister.  She looked at me as if for
approval, which I gave with a quick nod of my head.  Having the affirmation
she desired, Natalie quickly walked over behind Heather and started
unbuttoning the buttons I had left fastened.  Heather started in surprise
as she felt the extra pair of hands on her body, but quickly realized who
it was and moaned in appreciation as Natalie paused between buttons,
squeezing Heather's breasts from behind.

   Soon enough, the three of us were naked.  My hands were quickly full of
Heather's ass cheeks as we kissed passionately.  My sister still stood
behind Heather, reaching around to cup and tweak my girlfriend's full
breasts and now hard nipples.  I almost jumped in surprise as I felt one of
Natalie's hands reach down Heather's front to cup her pussy, bumping into
my cock in the process.  She gave an embarrassed grin and continued rubbing
around the outside of Heather's vulva, pressing lightly on the edges of her
labia as Heather groaned in between us.

   "Sorry," she said as the back of her hand once again brushed against my
erection.  I smiled and pressed my shaft more firmly against her fingers,
groaning at the sensation.

   "Don't worry about it," I hissed as Heather began kissing down my chest.

   We were forced to reposition soon enough and took the opportunity to
fall onto my bed.  Katie had apparently removed the bedding, leaving but a
single sheet and now sat on a chair, mere feet from our activity, a
captivated look in her eye.

   "Lick her pussy," Katie groaned, although I couldn't be certain who she
was speaking to.  I knelt between Heather's widespread thighs, preparing to
feast on her swollen pussy.  Heather, in turn, was lying on her back as my
sister positioned herself above my girlfriend's mouth.

   I timed the first swipe of my tongue in time with Heather's first
tentative lick of Natalie's already soaked labia and the two women groaned
in unison, Heather's cry muted slightly by Natalie's thighs.  I found that
I was able to ignore the presence of both Natalie and Katie as I gently
brought Heather higher and higher.

   Her squeals of pleasure increased as I added a finger to her pussy,
while my tongue rapidly lashed over her clit.  She was leaking her juices
onto my face and the bed now and I could already feel her pussy muscles
begin to spasm around my finger as I thrust into her.

   "Oh shit," she hissed as I felt the first real spasm of her orgasm
overtake her.  As she began shaking, Natalie reached down, pushing me out
of the way and began licking wilding at the fat outer lips of Heather's
pussy.  I wasn't sure if Natalie was able to come, or if Heather had
stopped all her movements with the onset of her orgasm, but I know I was
close to shooting my first load of semen just from watching the two women.

   When Heather had finally settled down a bit, Natalie quickly sat up, her
face shiny and wet from Heather's orgasm.  She twisted around onto her back
with her own legs spread, beckoning for my girlfriend to eat her in return.

   "Go for it," I said as Heather looked at me for some sort of approval.
Once she had it, Heather wasted no time in diving in and soon it was
Natalie screaming and writhing on my bed.  It occurred to me that Heather
was pretty good at what she did, and I grinned over to Katie, who was still
sitting and watching the proceedings.

   "She seems pretty into this," I mouthed.  Katie grinned, her eyes glassy
and unfocussed as her fingers plunged rapidly into her pussy.  I could hear
the liquid wet sounds as her juices squeezed out around her digits, coating
the chair below her ass.  Thank God the chair's vinyl, was my observation,
a though quickly pushed aside as I felt a hand firmly grasp my cock.

   "Stop ogling your sister's girlfriend and fuck me," Heather hissed over
her shoulder, a smile playing on her lips as Natalie grinned up at me.

   "Yes, ma'am," I said, saluting the two of them as I got into position.
Heather's ass was presented to me, and it took only a second to find the
gaping opening to her pussy.  I needed but a single swipe in her opening to
coat the head of my cock and began slowly pushing forward.

   A gentle bout of lovemaking was evidently not on Heather's mind as she
lunged back at me, imbedding my cock in her steaming pussy in one hard
stroke.

   "Oh shit," I gasped as my cock was suddenly surrounded by her smooth,
wet tunnel.  I grabbed Heather by the hips and began thrusting almost
violently into her opening.  I was mildly worried about my frantic motions,
but Heather's groans and hisses of pleasure soon allayed any fears I might
have had.

   Suddenly Natalie was crawling out from under Heather as I continued
fucking her from behind.  She reached out to Katie, who was slumped over on
the chair, glowing from the after-effects of a self-induced orgasm, and
pulled her onto the bed.

   Very quickly there were four sets of groans as the four of us, almost
synchronized in our actions, were thrusting and licking at each other all
at once.  I doubt our orgasms were simultaneous, but the explosions we felt
couldn't have been all that far apart, based on the sounds we were making.
We were loud enough that I began to worry about the neighbors, but the
thought quickly passed as I felt Heather began to twitch almost
uncontrollably beneath me.

   "Harder, harder, harder," she panted as the spasms hit with a fierceness
I could feel through my prick.  I tried to oblige, although my legs were
beginning to feel like jelly at this point.  I held on as long as I could,
until I felt the onset of her second orgasm.  The power of her tremors and
the thrusting of her hips managed to force me away and I fell back on the
bed, watching as Heather writhed on the bed, her fingers now plunging
desperately in her pussy as she attempted to prolong her climax.

   Katie and Natalie paused in their lovemaking, watching in amazement as
Heather seemed to go through not one but two consecutive climaxes, each
leaving her limp and happy on the bed.  A trail of juices leaked from her
pussy, coating the sheets on the bed.  Natalie grinned at me before
releasing Katie and leaping to Heather's prone form.

   She began to lap up the copious juices and soon her face had taken on a
slipper sheen from the effort.  I sat back, idly stroking my cock while all
this was going on, my eyes focused solely on the action between my sister
and my girlfriend.  I was so intent on their play that it came as a shock
when I felt my hand pushed aside.  I looked down in shock to see Katie
grinning up at me for a moment before plunging her mouth down over my
erection.

   "Oh fuck," I gasped as her tongue began lashing at the sensitive
underside of my prick.  My outburst roused Heather, who was now lying back,
her fingers trailing through Natalie's hair as the younger girl nibbled at
Heather's nipples.

   "Look at them," Heather whispered in Natalie's ear.  My sister paused in
her ministrations to Heather's breasts and looked our way.  Her own eyes
grew glassy as she watched me receive Katie's expert blowjob.  Her
excitement seemed to be increased by watching this and she quickly
redoubled her efforts on Heather's tits, causing the older woman to reach a
hand down and begin thrusting furiously in her pussy.

   The action was interrupted suddenly when Katie, with a loud slurp that
made all of us giggle, pulled away from my cock.  She reached out and
grabbed Natalie away from Heather, pulling the two girls together in a
heated embrace.  The two started kissing and fondling each other hotly
while Heather and I watched.

   When Heather noticed my hand was once again stroking at my erection as I
watched, she leaned back on the bed, spreading her legs wide in invitation.
I needed no second request and had soon buried my rod in her hot tunnel and
was quickly stroking closer and closer to another orgasm.

   Beside us on the bed, Katie was busy between my sister's legs, licking
and probing with her fingers and tongue.  In her excitement, Natalie had
reached over and was pulling on Heather's nipples, sliding her fingers over
the full breasts.  She would occasionally reach down to tweak Heather's
clit, sometimes bumping into my prick in the process.

   Suddenly I felt Heather go tense beneath me as what turned out to be her
final orgasm of the night rocketed through her body.  I felt the slick
walls of her pussy begin pulsing around my cock and I pulled out as a
stream of clear liquid sprayed onto my crotch.

   "Holy shit," Natalie whispered as she watched Heather ejaculating from
her orgasm.  In her excitement Natalie reached down to catch some of the
slippery liquid and to my surprise my sister grabbed my cock, coating my
shaft with Heather's cum.

   "Do it," Heather whispered when she saw where Natalie's hand was. 
Natalie got an embarrassed look on her face, but commenced stroking my
erection.  I leaned back, closing my eyes, and as the sensations washed
over my groin, I could feel my orgasm building inside me.

   Soon a second set of hands, I can only assume they belonged to Katie,
reached down and began fondling my balls and running over the clenched
cheeks of my ass, once dipping down to stroke over the puckered ring of my
anus.  This was enough to trigger my orgasm, and it was all I could do to
hold on as long as possible before I released stream after stream of my
semen onto Heather's waiting pussy and belly.

   Drained from the activity, I slumped down into Heather's waiting arms.
She smothered my face with kisses and we held each other, our bodies slick
with the results of our sex.

   I don't know if I managed to crawl off of Heather and down onto the bed
before I passed out...  I just don't remember.  All I know for certain is
that it wasn't too long before I felt myself drifting away, and then it was
dark.

   *****

   "Wake up, sleepyhead." The words were scarcely more than a whisper,
barely loud enough to be heard from the darkness of sleep.

   "Go away," I mumbled.

   "Wake up, sleepyhead." Louder now, but still quiet.  The person was
obviously close to my ear.  I pretended ignorance, but as the sound
continued I spoke up again.

   "Too tired," I said.  "Go away."

   I tried to keep my eyes closed, pretending I was still sleeping, but the
insistent tapping on the side of my face eventually became to much and I
cracked open one eye.  Heather was looking intently at me, a smile on her
face.

   "Time to get up," she said in a singsong voice.

   "What time is it?" I asked, craning my head to look at the clock on the
bed's headboard.  "Is that morning or night?" I asked when I saw the clock
read nine thirty.

   "Night," Heather whispered.  "Come on," she said, grabbing my arm and
attempting to pull me off the bed.  I finally staggered to my feet,
noticing for the first time the two of us were now alone in my bedroom,
although still naked.

   "Where are Katie and my sister?" I asked as we walked down the hallway.
Heather stopped and pointed into the spare bedroom.  Natalie's room.

   "Aren't they cute?" she asked.  The two girls were sharing the bed, arms
and legs all akimbo under a thin sheet.  They were cute.

   "They make a nice couple," I said.  "Now, why the heck did you wake me
up.  I was enjoying quite the nice dream," I added grumpily.

   "Was I in it?" Heather grinned.

   "Yes."

   "Ooh.  I should have let you sleep, I guess," she giggled quietly as we
walked into the living room.

   "What's up?" I asked as I sat down heavily on the couch.  Heather
carefully sat down on my lap before she answered.

   "I just wanted to talk," she said.

   "And we couldn't have done that in bed?" I wondered.

   "Ick," she grimaced.  "Wet spot,"

   "Ah...  so, what did you want to talk about?"

   "Us."

   "Oh?"

   "It's just...  where are we?" Heather asked, and I thought I could hear
anxiety in her voice.

   "Wait a minute.  Are you worried about the two of us now?" I asked,
hoping Heather hadn't somehow had a change of heart.  It was my worst fear,
that this whole event would have made her change her mind about us. 
"Because that whole threesome...  foursome...  whatever...  that had
absolutely nothing to do with how I feel about you right now.  I love you,"
I said.

   "Thank God," Heather said, throwing her arms around me as she peppered
my face with kisses.

   "Were you worried about me?" I asked.

   "Kind of," she said.  "But about me, and what you'd think of me."

   I was about to launch into a lengthy dissertation about my undying love
when the girls walked in.  Thankfully, Katie and Natalie had decided on
some modicum of modesty and were both wearing t-shirts which had apparently
been secreted from my dresser.

   "Hey guys," Natalie chirped, blushing a bit when she noticed the two of
us were still naked.

   "Hi," Katie chimed in.  "What's going on?"

   "Just talking," I said, not sure how much I should reveal of our
discussion, a question Heather quickly answered as she jumped in.

   "I'm trying to figure out if he loves me," she said.

   "God!  A whole lot, I think," said a frustrated-sounding Katie.  "I wish
I could find someone to love me like that." She looked mildly dejected for
a moment before Natalie wrapped her in a hug from behind.

   "I could love you like that," she whispered, barely loud enough for us
to hear from the couch.

   "You think so?" Katie said, turning slightly to kiss the other girl on
the cheek.  "You did a pretty damn good job earlier tonight."

   "I think it's in the genes," Natalie giggled, running her lips up the
back of Katie's neck, causing her to shiver.

   "Mmm..." she replied.  "I think I'd like seeing exactly what's in those
jeans again," she laughed.

   "Ahem," coughed Heather, causing the two girls to break apart in
surprise before quickly falling back together in laughter.

   "Yes?" asked my sister.

   "We're also talking about what just happened," Heather said.

   "You mean where I said I wanted to get into Nat's jeans?" Katie joked.

   "No," Heather grinned.  "Before that...  with the four of us...  three
of us...  whatever."

   "It was great," Natalie said, kissing Katie on the cheek once again. 
"Really great."

   "Are we going to do it again?" I asked, seeing where Heather was going.
I got the idea she was a little insecure after it was all said and done,
and might have been trying, despite the good time we'd all had, of avoiding
another moment like we'd all just shared.

   "I dunno," shrugged Katie.  "Do you want to?" she asked me before
quickly turning to Heather.  "Do you want to?"

   "It was fun," agreed my sister.  "But do we need to figure that out
right now?" she asked.  "I'm getting kind of cold!"

   "I'll warm you up, fair damsel!" laughed Katie, spinning in my sister's
arms so the two ended up in a hug.  "I'll get you as warm as you've ever
been."

   "You know you get me hot," my sister giggled, her laughter fading to a
small moan as Katie began nuzzling at the tops of her breasts before slowly
moving up to plant kisses all around her neck.  "Oh, God," she whispered.

   "Okay," I called out.  "Back to the bedroom for you two.  Out!" The
girls looked up guiltily at me before laughing and scurrying back to
Natalie's room.  The door slammed behind them with a satisfying thud, and
although Heather and I could hear their moans through the door, the sound
was thankfully muted.

   "Where were we?" I asked, raising my eyebrows as Natalie, or maybe it
was Katie, gave a very satisfied-sounding shriek from the bedroom.  Heather
giggled, snuggling into me more tightly.

   "I think I was about to start bugging you, trying to figure out if last
night was a mistake," she said.

   "Why would you think that?" I wondered.

   "I don't know...  I just...  I worry that you might feel differently
about me after all that."

   "I think of you the same way I always have," I smiled.  "Well...  except
for a few weeks during the summer when I thought you were a depraved slut."

   "And a whore," Heather interjected, but I could tell by the smile that
she was joking.

   "Right.  Can't forget that," I laughed.  "I did think you were acting
like a whore.  But seriously.  I've loved you almost from the minute we
met."

   "I just...  I don't know if I'm right for you."

   "You are!"

   "I don't know if I'm what you want."

   In frustration I turned the two of us around so we were looking at the
book case on the back wall of the living room.  One shelf was lined with
nothing but nicknacks and photographs.

   "See that picture?" I asked.  "The one in the middle."

   "Yes."

   "Who's in it?" I asked.

   "You and me," Heather answered quietly.

   "That's all I want.  I want you," I said.  "And I need to know if I can
have you."

   "For how long?" Heather whispered, her arms tight around my neck as she
nuzzled against my chest.

   "Forever, if you'll have me," I said.  There was a short pause and what
almost sounded like a sob before Heather answered.

   "I'm yours," she replied.

   *****

   It was a few months later, right after Valentine's Day, when I popped
the question.  I wanted to recreate the night more than a year ago when I
surprised Heather with all those roses.  Pablo's didn't have flower girls
selling roses anymore, of course, but there was a pretty little floral
boutique on my way home from school, and I decided it would do just fine.

   "They're so beautiful," Heather sighed when she saw them.  Once again I
had spread the flowers all over the living room, the heady scent of the
roses almost overpowering.

   "This one is special," I said and handed her a single rose.  "Careful
though, the thorns are still attached."

   "I will be," Heather said as she smelled the rose.  I knew the moment
she saw what I had hidden on the rose from her little gasp.  "Oh my God,"
she whispered as she pulled the ring from the stem, careful not to catch
herself on the thorns.  "It's beautiful."

   She turned to thank me, her face turning almost ashen when she saw I was
down on the floor on one knee.  Before she could move I grabbed her hand
and held it in mine.

   "Heather Morris, will you do me the great honor of allowing me to become
your husband?" I asked, watching her face move from emotion to emotion,
from surprise to anxiety and finally to happiness.

   "Yes," she laughed as she jumped into my arms, knocking us both to the
floor.  "Yes, I'll have you!  Forever and ever and ever!"

   *****

   That was almost a year ago now.  A few months after I proposed, the end
of the school year rolled around.  Even with the distractions, I was able
to graduate with honors, making the college happy in its decision to allow
Dr.  Bergerud to push for me to be his replacement.  I had a lot of
questions to answer from the board of regents about my age and
inexperience, but there were still quite a few people in charge from when
my mentor had started his career, and I think that they were maybe hoping
I'd turn out to be as successful and that my career here would be just as
long.

   I know I do.

   The wedding was in late June, a few weeks after all the busy times
surrounding graduation.  Heather was gorgeous, but of course I knew she
would be.  She walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet of roses, walking
on a carpet of rose pedals.  I just stood up at the front of the church and
stared.

   My sister and Katie moved in together.  It had been a bit of an
emotional time for the two of them.  Katie was losing her parents as they
prepared to move to the west coast.  Dr.  Bergerud was taking over at a
high school named after one of the presidents.  Kennedy, I think.  I know
he was excited, but a little worried about leaving Katie, his "little
baby," as he called her, all alone.  So I think it was comforting to know
she would be watched over and loved.

   Heather and I are still in the apartment I've lived in for the past few
years, but it's quickly gone from being my place to being ours, and I
wouldn't have it any other way.  It's getting a bit crowded now, even more
than normal after all the wedding gifts and new furniture we received from
our parents.

   The spare bedroom is in a state of flux too.  After setting it all up as
a study and practice room, Heather came to me one morning with a happy grin
on her face.

   "I think we're going to need to remodel that room," she said.

   I didn't have a clue.

   "Don't you like it?" I asked.  We had just gotten the apartment to our
liking, and the last thing I wanted was a fight over interior decorating.

   "No, it's great," she said.  "But we didn't leave enough room for the
crib.

   "Crib?" I asked, a bit slow before I'd eaten breakfast.  "Crib?"

   Heather grinned, putting both hands on her belly.

   "Oh my God," I said, jumping up from my chair.  "You mean?  We're... 
you're...?"

   "You're going to be a daddy," Heather smiled, melting into my embrace.

   The nurses and doctors at the clinic are probably sick and tired of us
by now.  Heather protests that she's perfectly fine, but I'm paranoid and
know it, and any little twinge I see from my beautiful bride is cause
enough to rush us to the doctor's office, just in case.

   We had an ultrasound the other day.  Heather didn't want to know the
results, but I did.  I wanted to get going on the new paint in the baby's
new room.  We've talked about names for the baby, and have settled on two.
We were going to name it after my father if it was a boy, but that will
have to wait until our next one, although Heather doesn't know that yet.

   It will be a surprise, because Heather is officially banned from the
baby's new room until after the birth, but I just bought three cans of
paint, but Heather doesn't get to see it until after the baby's born.

   One thing is for certain though.  The room is going to be pink
everywhere.  Pink walls, pink curtains, pink bedding in the cradle.  It's
going to be the best room for a little baby girl you've ever seen.

   And everywhere...  flowers.

   I wouldn't dream of anything less for our little Rose.

   *****

   I know it's a pretty cliche thing to say, but my life with Heather
really is like a rose to me.  It's said that every rose has its thorns, and
believe me, I think the two of us managed to find at least a few, if not
most, of them, and no doubt we'll find even more along the path of our
lives.  I have to say though, that even with all the pain and anxiety and
uncertainty we've faced, right now life smells incredibly sweet to me.

   And I wouldn't have it any other way.
   The End