Through Artemisia's Window Ch. 01

"I'll help you carry the stuff inside and then you can come over to my place. I've got plenty of tea and it would be my pleasure."

They finished retrieving Rachel's belongings and headed inside. Artemisia began talking about the wonderful weather they were having but Rachel didn't hear any of it. She was too preoccupied going over her apology in her head. On this day, the short distances between their two houses seemed interminably long. She was very confused, though. Rather than being terse with her or treating her like a freak, Artemisia seemed to be in quite a pleasant mood and was being very sweet and generous. It threw Rachel for a loop. After all, she had spied on the woman having sex and masturbated while she did it. Any normal person should be offended to have caught someone invading their privacy like that. The prospect that it did not offend Artemisia began to make Rachel even more nervous. When they finally sat down in Artemisia's house and her cup of tea was before her, she starred down at her mug for what seemed like a full minute before she spoke up. When she did, it all came out in a flurry.

"I just want to apologize for what happened last Friday. It was not my intention to spy on you. I was in my garden when I saw that man chase you into the house, and then I heard sounds of him hitting you and you screaming – I thought you were in danger and I didn't know if I should call the police. I wanted to get a look just to be sure. I only meant to look in to see that you were ok and when I did I... I was just so shocked, so surprised that I was kind of frozen and then, I don't know what happened, I mean I know what happened but I don't understand why it happened that I, umm, that I uh... What's so funny?"

Artemisia could not contain her amusement and she could not help but start giggling. "Relax! I'm not laughing at you and I'm not angry with you. If anything, I should apologize as I know we were anything but discrete. But hey, you enjoyed our little show and we enjoyed performing it! No harm, no foul, as far as I'm concerned."

"No really, I was just trying to make sure that you were ok-"

Artemisia almost started laughing again. She controlled her amusement and studied the woman sitting before her. She looked to be about ten years her junior. She had long dark hair and dressed quite conservatively. The look on her face and her body language told Artemisia that this girl was totally uncomfortable with this topic of conversation. The first part of her story might be true – she might have looked in on them only to make sure that Artemisia was ok, which was sweet – but Artemisia knew damn well that what she saw that afternoon when her boyfriend got up to go to the bathroom after fucking her brains out was anything but someone concerned for her safety. It was a woman in sexual rapture just like herself. But rather than try to embarrass her in her fib, she decided on a different tactic.

"You know, Rachel, my parents were Catholic and I grew up in a very strict household. I wasted so many of my young adult years feeling ashamed and guilty about my sexual desires. I'll never get those years back, and I probably would have had a lot more great sex in my life if I had not wasted so much time being so uptight about it. It's ok that you saw us and got aroused. It's nothing to be ashamed of and your reaction was perfectly natural and healthy."

Hearing her words helped Rachel to relax a little bit, but she still could not look Artemisia in her eyes. "I just feel dirty, like some kind of pervert."

"An attractive woman like you, I know you must have a boyfriend. Don't you two have sex?"

"Well no, I mean, we mess around, we kiss and do some, uh, touching, but we are saving ourselves for marriage. And even when we are married, I doubt we'll be having the kind of sex you were having..."

"Well, we were having anal sex, and I admit that doesn't seem to be what most people do-"

"Wha-, what did you say?" Rachel exclaimed, flabbergasted at what she thought she heard.

"Oh, honey, I thought you saw us and knew what we were doing?"

Rachel was unable to believe her ears as the reality of what she had heard set in. "I did see you but I didn't see all that! I only saw his finger... I had no idea he actually put his... Jesus Christ, that's disgusting!"

"Sweetie, did I look like I was disgusted?" Artemisia asked with a look of sinful indulgence on her face.

"Well, no, I guess not."

"I was having one of the most intense orgasms of my life, that's what I was!"

"Oh my!" Rachel let out, and wished that she could take it back. Her intrigue was fighting her disgust and for her own sense of self, she wanted disgust to win.

"You've got to be almost 30, right? You mean to tell me that you and your boyfriend are really not having sex? Not even oral sex?" Artemisia asked disbelievingly.

"I actually tried to have sex a couple of times but it didn't go so well. So I figured, no need to endure both the guilt and the discomfort, I might as well wait for marriage," Rachel confessed. She finally looked up and met Artemisia's eyes. Seeing the sympathetic understanding there, she felt a little more at ease.

With her new comfort level, they chatted for another hour. They talked about Rachel's relationship with her parents and with Kenny, and their decision to remain abstinent before marriage. Artemisia could sense that there was an independent spirit wanting to be let out in Rachel, and she determined that she would help her find that spirit if she could. Rachel also learned that Artemisia had been seeing her boyfriend for a while and he had come to visit many times but never stayed at her house because he was allergic to cats. But her cat had recently died and after de-dandering her house, the past weekend marked the first time that they would not have to stay in some hotel. The long two-hour drive from the Denver airport had them bursting at the seems when they arrived in Colorado Springs that afternoon, and Rachel just happened to be there to catch it all. Well, almost all of it. In her mind, she was still repulsed by the idea of anal sex. But hearing Artemisia describe it, however, as the best sex she ever had, left Rachel's body at odds with her moral values.

Seeing the look of pure joy on Artemisia's face as she relayed the story and as she relived the memory herself, Rachel walked back to her house that evening very horny and with an irresistible impulse to call Kenny. She wasn't going to have sex with him, but she needed his hands on her in a big way. If he hurried, maybe she'd even give him a little surprise.

-------(_*_)-------

"Well, that was my intention," Rachel relayed to Artemisia as they sat talking again in Artemisia's kitchen one week later, "but I didn't really know what I was doing and the whole thing was kind of awkward. I thought I was doing an OK job – he was stiff and he seemed to be enjoying it – but after a few minutes he pushed me away all in a huff. He told me to stop, and I asked him why. He said we were going too far, and asked me why I was no longer sticking to our vow that we would wait until we were married?"

"No he didn't?!"

"Yes he did," said Rachel, voice trembling and eyes starting to water, "did I do something wrong?"

"Is it what you wanted?"

"Yes."

"Does he care about you? Is he good to you?" Artemisia asked.

"Yes."

"Then you didn't do anything wrong. I am a reformed Catholic, and a lot of people – Catholics in particular – think that oral and anal sex do not count as losing your virginity. I don't necessarily believe all that, but I don't believe in virginity for virginity's sake anyway. If you want to marry this man, you should be intimate with him before you tie the knot... a lot! Actually, you should try on a lot of different shoes before you decide on a pair to buy, but if you're not willing to go that far, you should at least know what the sex is like with him. Sexual compatibility is not the most important thing in a relationship, but without it you're doomed. So you should find out if you two are compatible before you get married."

"But I've held onto it this long, I might as well go all the way now," Rachel responded.

"Sweetie," Artemisia said seriously, stepping closer and placing her hands on Rachel's shoulders, "our mothers and our grandmothers and our grandmothers' mothers suffered through sexless and passionless marriages and had to sit home and accept it while their husbands went out and found the hot sex on the side that they should have been having at home. They fought those battles and suffered through that so we don't have to."

"I guess that makes some sense..."

"But I can't believe he made you stop. Most guys want you down there all the time, doing it until your jaw aches and feels like it's about to lock!" Artemisia joked, bringing a pained smile out of Rachel.

"Will you teach me?" Rachel spontaneously implored. She almost regretted them as soon as the words left her lips.

"Teach you?"

"Yes, teach me! Teach me how to do it so he doesn't want me to stop."

"Well, it would be hard for me to teach you, especially with no one to practice on. That's it, really, you just need practice. And a willing subject, of course."

"But now I feel all self conscious and insecure about it," Rachel explained. "I want to be an expert before I approach Kenny again."

An idea popped into Artemisia's head. "Wait right here, I'll be right back." She got up from the kitchen table where the women were sharing tea and disappeared through the living room into her bedroom. She returned with a wicked smile on her face and a book in her hand which she handed to Rachel.

"The Art of Oral Sex," Rachel read out loud. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, flipping through the book and seeing some pretty graphic illustrations.

"Borrow that for a while. It helped me a lot – that and watching porn, but I don't suppose you are quite ready for that?" Artemisia enquired and Rachel shook her head nervously. "Well, this should be a pretty good start."

"But what about practicing? You said yourself I will need to practice."

"I don't know... use a banana. Not too ripe; one with a little green in it should be firm enough. But practice on that for a little while and you should at least get to the point where you feel comfortable having him deep in your mouth."

"Thank you," Rachel said, still a bit nervous at the fact that she was accepting a pornographic instruction manual, and even more troubled by the thought that Artemisia could just look at her and tell that she had every intention of taking that book home and scouring it for every little bit of information it had to give.

"Keep it for as long as you like. In fact, it's yours. I don't have any more use for it. Once you are done with it, pass it on to some other deserving soul. And now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready. My man is coming back for a visit and I have to go pick him up from the airport. I'll likely be all tied up this weekend, but come see me next week and tell me how it goes."

"I don't know if I'll give it to someone else, but I'll sure read it. Thanks again, Artemisia. This has made me feel much better."

"Oh, and one more thing," Artemisia piped up. "When you show him your new talent – make sure he returns the favor. You deserve to get as good as you give!"

Rachel didn't say anything but just blushed. She gave Artemisia a hug and ran home with her new book.

-------(_*_)-------

Rachel left Artemisia's house and entered her own to get her car keys, and then drove straight to the supermarket. "Is that it?" the supermarket clerk asked her after entering the $0.69-per-pound slightly green fruit in the register.

"Yep, that's all. Just had a hunger for some bananas this evening," Rachel explained nervously. She took her fruit and almost ran out of the supermarket, suddenly self conscious and feeling like everyone knew what she was planning to do with her bananas. She sped home. For some reason, she was so excited to dive into the book.

When she got home, she curled up with a blanket on her living room couch and started reading. The first part of the book was more about how to think about giving and receiving oral sex, and how no skill could overcome a reluctant or bad attitude about the practice. The first requisite, the book read, is simply to be committed to pleasing your partner selflessly. This, the book explained, is easy enough to achieve with love, genuine affection, or simply being a free spirit. Did she really love Kenny? She thought so, but how was she to be sure?

She read further and found that the second requisite is to get over the fear of vulnerability. This is only possible, the book advised, if you are confident that your partner genuinely loves and or cares for you and your well being. Knowing that the other person is committed to your pleasure leaves you free to be committed and focused on theirs. Was this how Kenny felt about her? She hopped so, but again, how was she to be sure?

The third and final requisite, the book advised, is to let go of any moral stigma that a person might attach to oral sex, performing it or otherwise. This, too, must be mutual. If either partner feels that the act is wrong or dirty, it will be hard for them to respect their partner for doing it. As further illustration, Rachel read how historically married men have been the most frequent visitors of prostitutes. She found this shocking and horrifying! 'Why would they need prostitutes if they were married?' she thought. Reading on, she learned that the married men that visited prostitutes were usually there for oral sex! It was something they felt their wives should not do, that it was morally wrong for a good woman (i.e., "wife material") to do such things, but for a whore it was acceptable. The Madonna/Whore complex, this was called. These men lusted for whores in their hearts, but married virgins or "virtuous" women out of a sense of propriety. A man's ego and insecurity contribute to this desire for women who have not been touched by other men, the author explained, but a mature man is comfortable enough to be happy with someone with the experience to be a good lover.

Rachel was shocked. She let the book fall to her side and she sat back to take it all in. She realized that she had been brought up to think that way. She continued reading. As a consequence of these dalliances with prostitutes, these men often brought sexually transmitted diseases back home, risking the health of their wives and their children. All because they were too uptight to go down on each other!

Headlights shining through her living room window alerted Rachel that it had gotten dark outside. She had been so engrossed in her reading that two hours had gone by! She glanced outside and saw Artemisia and her lover getting out of her car. In the glow of the street lamp she saw them kiss deeply before hurrying to Artemisia's door. Rachel's heart skipped a beat and she felt a twitch in her lower stomach. She recognized the tension in her and she was determined to fight it. It did, however, make her even more determined to return to her reading and improve on her technique. She felt that if she could get it down that night then maybe she could call Kenny. She put Artemisia out of her head and settled back down on the couch to continue her lesson.

-------(_*_)-------

No sooner than they were in the house then they were all over each other. Artemisia had a hungry fire in her and so did her boyfriend, Marcel. They had almost crashed on the way home as she tried to drive with his finger in her pussy. Periodically he withdrew it just to taste before slipping it back inside her. When they entered Artemisia's house, he threw her over the back of the couch and was about to thrust into her when she stopped him. "I think I want to fuck you in the bedroom, baby, we'll be much more comfortable in there." Subconsciously, Artemisia knew what she was doing, but she never voiced it in her head directly. When they walked in her bedroom – kissing as she walked backwards leading him by stroking his rigid cock – she even told herself as she broke the kiss to open a window that she was only doing it to give them some fresh air so it wouldn't get too hot. Briefly looking out the window, she also felt a twinge of disappointment to see that Rachel's window was closed and her curtains drawn. She didn't have time to reflect on what that was about. Her boyfriend pounced on her, and in the next minute he was deep in her pussy, pounding away...

------(_*_)-------

In frustration Rachel tried again to see how much of the banana she could get down her throat. She was slowly able to take more and more but that was not what was bothering her. She couldn't really jack the banana off and practice the full technique advised in the book while she sucked. And with no live body on the other end to tell her how she was doing, she had no idea if she was getting it right. She felt silly. Plus, it all just made her wish that Kenny was there and that it was him on whom she was practicing. She was getting incredibly horny, and every once in a while she would also be reminded of the fact that Artemisia and her boyfriend were probably going at it hot and heavy by then. Pretty soon, she was laying on her back masturbating with one hand while the other hand guided the banana in an out of her mouth. She fantasized that it was Kenny in her mouth and she heard his moans, telling her how good she was, what an angel she was and how he couldn't wait to do the same for her. She couldn't resist biting into the banana and using her tongue to squish the mushy fruit around in her mouth, wondering what Kenny's seed would taste like and hoping it would be that sweet.

Damn, she was hot. She never before had such lewd thoughts. Her panties and her fingers were soaked, she was at the edge, but she just needed that last push to get her over. Her mind raced back to the orgasm she had while watching Artemisia. Did she dare? No, no, no! She remembered how mortified she was at getting caught. Could she do it without getting caught? She didn't even know if they were in the bedroom or if the window was open. There was no way Artemisia would be so careless again. Should she check?

Yes, she would. It was obviously safe because there was no way that Artemisia would carelessly leave the window open again and have sex right in front of it. So she could check and then call Kenny and ask him over. Rachel got up from her couch and walked to her bedroom, feeling kind of giddy and lightheaded at her naughtiness. She turned on her light but then thought better of it and turned it back off. "If I open the curtain and see them, better they can't look back and see me," she thought. She climbed up on her bed and drew back the curtains just an inch to peek through. Her breath stopped and her heart caught in her throat at the sight she saw. Artemisia was naked and facing her, holding onto her breasts as she bounced up and down on her lover, looking dead in the direction of Rachel's window. Rachel abruptly let the curtains close again. She was breathing hard and could feel her heart beating in her chest. She knew she should walk away but she couldn't. In spite of her shame at what she was feeling, she desperately wanted to watch. But Artemisia was looking right in her direction! Then she remembered – it was dark in her room. She could see out because Artemisia had a light on, but no one would be able to see back in her bedroom as long as it was totally dark.

Feeling bold, Rachel slowly drew back the curtains. Not satisfied with only the picture, she also wanted the sound. So she slowly raised her window hoping that it would not creek and alert the couple that they again had voyeuristic company. Her ears were immediately greeted by Artemisia's vocal chords singing a chorus of raw passion. Rachel propped up some pillows to recline on, and then finally she removed her sweat pants and panties. No use lying to herself, she knew what she was there to do. She lay back to enjoy watching the couple have sex and her hand immediately started rubbing her clit. Her pussy was soaked all over again.