Courtship by Proxy

"Oh you definitely shared it with me," he said, "and it was unbelievable. You being asleep actually added to my pleasure because your responses and reactions were on a subconscious and primal level that I knew you had no control over. Your body responded on a purely physical level, without your love or emotions influencing you. I don't think I have any ego issues or anything, but I must admit that it does my male psyche proud to know that I can please a woman on a physical basis."

"Will you ever afford me the same opportunity? Will you ever stoke my female ego by allowing me to prove I can satisfy you solely on a physical level?"

"Sure," Kyle said. "The next time I'm unconscious and unaware, feel free to use and abuse me to your heart's desire."

"Kyle Mason, you're cruising for a bruising. That isn't what I meant and you know it. Would you be able to willingly accept me giving you physical pleasure without expectation of you reciprocating?"

"Honestly Tara, I don't know that I could. I'm sorry, but I just can't promise that I will ever be able to do that."

"That's a fair answer I guess," she admitted. "So wasn't it disgusting... you know your mouth, down there." She indicated between her legs.

Kyle's eyes grew wide, "God no! Quite the contrary in fact. You wouldn't believe how wonderful you taste, and the sensations I could feel on my mouth as your body responded were amazing. I never thought of my mouth as a touch sensor before, but your body will benefit from my discovery from now on, believe me."

"Would you mind if I tried it for myself," she asked.

Kyle laughed, "If you're flexible enough to do that to yourself, go for it. I would love to watch."

"Oh you really are pushing your luck this morning Kyle. You know full well that I meant that I wanted to try my mouth on you."

Kyle considered her for a moment and then said, "Tara, I have had experience with other girls performing oral sex on me in the past and it has never met anyone's expectations. Some of the girls professed to have considerable experience at it, but I still left them disappointed. I don't want to disappoint you."

"Kyle the only way you could disappoint me would be if you didn't give me a chance to experience it with you. Don't you see that?"

"You're fully awake, you have all your faculties and you're not making this request under any type of duress?" he teased her.

She didn't answer, but simply slid down his body and kissed the head of his penis with her lips. Before she could proceed further, Kyle stopped her.

"Kyle please," she said in exasperation.

"I'm not saying 'no'," he told her, "but let's try something." He pulled her legs around so that she was lying on top of him with her head at his groin and his mouth under her sex.

"You may proceed," he said as his tongue snaked out and touched her clitoris.

"I'm sorry Tara, I tried to warn you."

She knelt on the bed beside him running her tongue around the inside of her mouth and then licking her lips.

"Don't apologize Kyle, it was what I wanted, and I'll prove it to you if you ever give me the opportunity again."

"I have never done that before," he said. "I mean no other girl had ever..."

"There you go again Kyle Mason, making me feel special once more."

He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her. "You are the most special woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"I love you Kyle. So, what do you normally do on a Sunday once you are done ravaging a girl in your bed?"

He laughed, "My normal Sunday routine after ravaging a girl in my bed is to pitch a perfect game in the major leagues or disprove Einstein's theory of relativity. Since neither of those has happened, you should be able to do the math."

Tara giggled and said, "Okay, so what do you want to do on this Sunday after ravaging me in your bed?"

"Do you want me to consider what you might want, or just tell you what I would want?"

"You would do that?" she asked in surprise. "You would share a selfish desire with me?"

"What can I say? You're corrupting me in ways I never thought possible."

"Then let it rip!" she said. "Share with me what you would like to do without any regard for me or my desires."

"Okay," he grinned. "I would like to eat a light breakfast, drink a cup of coffee, and then..."

"What?" she pleaded. "Tell me what you want to do."

"I want to come back and spend the rest of the day in bed with you."

"Kyle!" she said with exasperation. "That is exactly what I wanted to do and you knew it, didn't you?"

"Would you believe 'great minds think alike'?"

"Okay smarty pants, what else do you think my great mind wants to do today?"

"Ouch," he said as he put a hand to his temple.

"Kyle what's wrong?" Tara said with alarm.

"Nothing," he said. "I always just get a small pain when my omniscient sector shuts down. While it is out of commission, you're going to have to just verbally enlighten me on your additional wants for today."

"Oh you're a cute one, aren't you? Let's go to the kitchen and I'll consider whether or not you deserve further enlightenment."

Tara took Kyle's hand and led him out to the kitchen. She sat him at the counter and proceeded to make coffee for them.

As they drank coffee and nibbled on reheated muffins she asked, "When we were having oral sex earlier, your finger did some wandering. Do you remember that?"

"Can you be more specific?" he asked.

He watched Tara blush profusely as she said, "Around my bum."

"Ah, that wandering. Yes I remember. Did you like it?"

"It was very superficial wandering, but what there was of it was pleasurable. However, the reason I mention it is because it started me wondering..."

"I'm listening," he said.

"Have you ever had sex with a woman there, I mean in that part of her body?" she asked.

"No Tara, I have not," he said. "Why?"

"Having sex there wouldn't affect a woman's virginity would it?"

Kyle looked at her and said, "Well, technically no it wouldn't, but there is the 'spirit' of a woman's virtue that might come into question if the only consideration of her abstinence was merely her hymen. Don't you think?"

"Fair answer," Tara said. "Tell me this, what opinion would you have of a woman's virtue if she saved her hymen for the man she loved until their wedding night, but gave herself to him in all other ways before then? If her every sexual experience was shared for the first time only with him?" Exactly as I have done with you this weekend."

"I don't think her virtue could be called into question if her complete sexual defloration was performed entirely by the man she loved and eventually married," Kyle said. "However, companionship by proxy isn't the same as marriage Tara."

"So because I am just a proxy for Bubbles, you wouldn't want to do it with me?"

Kyle held her against him, "Don't confuse my wanting to protect your virtue with me not wanting to do everything imaginable with you Tara. That being said, even if it was Bubbles here with me right now, knowing that she had made the same commitment as you have relative to saving yourself for your wedding night, I would feel the same way as I do with you. I admit that I am falling for you – for her, but that is still a long way from marriage, or even an engagement."

"I love you Kyle, do you believe that?"

Kyle looked into her eyes and said, "Yes Tara, I do. I have never felt more loved in my life."

"Do you trust me Kyle?" she asked.

"You've never given me any reason not to trust you, so I would have to say 'yes'."

"Do you believe our shared pleasures this weekend have been just that, 'shared'?"

"Yes, I most definitely do," he said.

"Then let's not stop," she implored. "I trust you with my life, my virtue, and my body Kyle Mason. In my heart there is no longer any doubt that I want to give myself to you entirely, but I will respect any limitations that you impose. Please do whatever you want with me within your comfort zone for our shared pleasure and with no regrets."

When his alarm rang at 6:00am Kyle was disoriented. He knew where he was, but he was confused by an absence of something.

Coming fully awake, he realized that Tara wasn't in the bed beside him. He listened to see if he could hear her in the bathroom or kitchen, but when he heard only silence, he got up and began looking for her.

Entering the bathroom and noticing her toiletry bag missing told him that she had left. He confirmed this by checking the closet and drawers to find her bag and all of her clothes gone.

Why had she just snuck out like a thief in the night? When they had gone to sleep, with her cuddled up against him and his arm around her, they had been content and satisfied. He had done everything possible to alleviate her disappointment in him not taking her virginity, and he thought that they had discovered enough new sexual exploits and pleasures that she wouldn't have any regrets. He knew that he didn't have any.

Kyle pulled on a pair of sweat pants and went out to the kitchen to see if maybe she left him a note or some other message but found nothing from her. He started a pot of coffee and sat at the counter waiting for it to brew.

He hadn't felt this alone and dejected since the day Karen Mayes had left for college. He had hoped then that Karen would miss him and contact him, but ten years of optimism had proven fruitless. Did he have any hope of seeing Tara again? Probably not. She was after all, just a proxy for Bubbles, a woman that remained a mystery to him.

He didn't know if he would even hear from Bubbles once her and Tara had shared what had happened with him over the weekend. How could a woman who claimed to love a man willingly accept him giving and receiving so much sexual pleasure from another woman? He couldn't imagine such a thing being possible.

He was definitely hooked. Now she knew it without any doubt.

Hell, she could probably scale and fillet him before he knew what had happened. She returned to her plans as her flight home seemed to drone on forever.

"Yes," she thought upon review of her strategy. She'd leave him on the stinger for a while before she contacted him again. While it would be hard for her to resist the temptation to rush things, all those years of torture deserved some patience on her part.

She was going to get him, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it along the way.

Pulling into the parking structure at John Wayne Airport, Kyle was surprised to see how many spaces were available on a Sunday morning versus his normal weekday departure days. He had decide to start this trip on Sunday because he would lose a full day traveling to the east coast and he needed at least two full days in Washington, DC before he could head back home.

His high school class' ten-year reunion was the coming weekend, and while he still had no intention of attending, he had agreed to help Linda and Cliff with a few preparations that required him to be back into town by Thursday morning at the latest.

As Kyle passed through the security checkpoint and watched people taking their shoes off in preparation for screening, he found himself searching the left ankles of all the women he could see for a Porpoise tattoo.

It had been almost three weeks since Tara had disappeared from his bed and his life. He had heard nothing further from her, and since Bubbles had also been silent, he assumed that he was correct in her being unable to accept what he and Tara had done together.

Kyle realized that the optimistic hope that he had held for years regarding Karen Mayes had transformed into a new hope regarding Bubbles. This is what had him searching women's ankles for tattoos and being disappointed when he found the seat next to his in first class occupied by another man. He wondered if he could stand another ten years of false hope for a woman.

"I'm sorry Mr. Mason, but the reservation change was authorized," said the desk clerk. "We released your room here to another reservation and now we are fully booked."

"Wonderful," groaned Kyle. He had made the reservation at the Reston, Virginia hotel himself, and he knew that he had not changed his reservation to the hotel chain's Vienna, Virginia property, but someone else obviously had. "So how far away is the hotel where my reservation now exists?"

"It's almost exactly seven miles sir," the clerk said as he handed him a map with printed directions. "It is actually a newer property with more amenities than we offer here. I think you'll enjoy your stay there better."

"We'll see," Kyle said as he picked up his luggage and returned to his rental car.

Following the map and directions, the drive to the new hotel was quick and painless. Parking for guests was more convenient, and Kyle saw that his meeting location for tomorrow morning was just around the corner from the hotel. He had to admit that if he had realized where this hotel was, it would have been his first choice.

As the desk clerk pulled up his reservation for check-in, Kyle got his next surprise.

The clerk informed him, "You have a message waiting in our voicemail system from your wife, and she asked that you check it as soon as you get to your room."

Kyle didn't say anything in response, but he did do everything possible to expedite the steps required for him to get his room key as quickly as he could. He had to stop himself from running to the elevators, and then to his room once he had reached his floor. Tossing his luggage inside the door of the room, he closed the door and dashed to the phone. The red message waiting light was blinking, so he quickly accessed the voicemail and found himself holding his breath as he listened to her voice:

'Hello Kyle Mason," It was the digitally altered voice he had heard before. "My name is Bubbles, and I will be your companion for the next three days. Your dinner will be delivered to your room at 7:00pm. Please do not start eating until I call you at 7:05pm. I love you Kyle."

Chapter Five - Bubbles

Looking at his watch to check the time, Kyle realized that he had not adjusted it yet for the time zone changes. Quickly changing the hours, he saw that it was already 6:45pm. He decided to get unpacked and settled before his dinner was due to arrive.

Placing clothes in drawers and in the closet, Kyle reflected on his jubilation in finally hearing from Bubbles. No woman had ever intrigued him, stimulated him, or so fully amazed him with her efforts to have a relationship with him, and he had thought he had lost her.

Would he finally see her? She had said she would be his companion for the next three days – a schedule that coincided precisely with his trip to Washington, DC this week. While he appreciated the way she always seemed to surprise him, he wished that he had known of her plans so that he would have had an opportunity to plan something for her as well.

Kyle had just finished arranging toiletry items in the bathroom when he heard a knock on the room door. He quickly went to the door and opened it without checking who was there. A young man stood there holding a picnic basket.

"Kyle Mason?" he asked.

"That's me," Kyle replied.

"Then this must be for you." He handed Kyle the basket. "Just hold onto the basket and dishes and I'll pick them up from you when I deliver your breakfast. Have a good night." He turned and retreated down the hall to the elevators.

Kyle carried the basket to the table in the room and opened it. Inside was a Tupperware bowl, what appeared to be a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil, a spoon, napkin, and two bottles of his favorite beer. He opened the Tupperware and smelled the tomato soup inside. Feeling the aluminum foil, he saw that the sandwich inside was still quite warm. He unwrapped it and found a perfectly browned grilled cheese sandwich. He checked his watch. 7:04pm. He relocated the room phone so that it was sitting on the table with his meal, opened one of the beers and waited.

Less than a minute later, the phone rang. Kyle answered it before the first ring ended and said, "I thought I had lost you."

"Oh god Kyle, why would you ever think that?"

"Well your proxies have tended to just disappear on me without even saying goodbye, and after the weekend that Tara and I shared, I thought that maybe you couldn't accept what we did together," he told her.

"I'm sorry Kyle," she said. "You need to understand that you have an effect on my proxies almost as significant as you have had on me. It is so hard to leave you at all, if I expected them to say goodbye to you and look into your eyes as they left your life, I could never forgive myself."

"A note or something would have been nice," he said.

"I understand Kyle, and I'll try to do better. Now, why would you think that I couldn't accept what you and Tara shared? I've told you Kyle, Tara was me when she was with you. What you shared you shared with me, and it has taken me these last three weeks to recover from the experience.

"One day I really hope to comprehend this proxy power thing that you and your sisters have," he said.

"Trust me Kyle, one day soon I'll make sure you comprehend everything perfectly. So are you ready to eat dinner with me?"

"You're here?" Kyle said as he prepared to run to the door and open it for her.

"I'm not at the hotel Kyle, but I'm close. I will be close enough to you over the next few days to make sure that you are completely taken care of."

"You don't think I can take care of myself?" he teased her.

"I'm sure you can. I can just do it better, and I will. Let's talk while we eat so your soup and sandwich don't get cold."

Kyle picked up the spoon and took a sip of the soup. It was still quite warm and delicious. He held the phone in his left hand as he took another spoon of soup with his right hand. "How did you manage to get this meal made and delivered? This isn't typical restaurant fare."

"Simple," she said. "I cooked it and paid a college boy to deliver to you. I will fix all your meals for you while you are here, and while I won't be with you physically, we will share every meal just as we are this one."

"You must live pretty close to the hotel for the food to arrive as warm as it was."

"Why do you think I had your reservation switched? Those seven miles could make a difference in whether your meals were edible by the time you received them. You don't mind do you?"

"I assume you're asking if I minded you switching my reservation, and the answer is 'no'," he said. "This hotel is better and more conveniently suited for my agenda this week. I was admitting to myself when I arrived that had I know where this one was, it would have been my first choice. Knowing that it's closer to you is an added benefit."

"How's you soup?" she asked.

"Perfect," he said. "It amazes me how much you know about me. A grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup has always been one of my favorites, ever since I was a kid."

"This was actually on the menu for that Sunday night at your apartment, but other things took priority if I remember right," she giggled.

"I have no regrets about missing a few meals that weekend. In fact, I would forego this meal right now to be able to spend the time with you in person."

She sighed, "Oh I would too Kyle, and I think we're getting close to that happening, I really do. I know that you love me Kyle, and you're close to knowing it too aren't you?"

"I'll admit that I've known it for weeks," he said, "and I'll tell you right now that I love you. Unfortunately, I still haven't come to terms with the cloud hanging over me, and I don't want to risk 'us' until there is some sort of closure there. I'm sure that Tara related our conversation to you about..."