Title IX

Trigger Warning: A date rape situation is mentioned in this story.

***

"You're usually gone by now," said Alice, his chemistry colleague. "Why are you still here?"

Paul shrugged. "I thought if I could get these exams graded, I wouldn't have to take them home for the weekend. I hate carrying a briefcase home. I'd much rather leave my work on campus."

"OK, suit yourself. As soon as I have my lab prepped for Monday, I'm out of here. See you Monday." She waved. He watched her hips sway as she walked away. As attractive as she was, it was better not to date co-workers, so he just sighed, and turned back to his work. In the current climate, you could lose your job for even just asking someone out, if they complained that it made them feel 'uncomfortable'.

***

"Finally, I have the exams done and I can go home," he mumbled to himself. "At 6 o'clock, I bet I'm the last person in the building."

There was a tap on his office door. "Professor Barton? Is this a good time?" He looked up. Danielle Stone was standing there. She was a good student, and had been a regular visitor to his office hours when she was in his class. "I know it isn't office hours, but you said we could come see you even for... personal advice." Did he see a slight blush behind those freckles? Hard to be sure; even the deepest blush would pale beneath the glory of her red hair.

"Well, I was about to leave," 'in about 10 seconds' he added silently to himself, "but I'm not in a rush, if it's important." 'Be VERY careful', he thought to himself. 'I've already been chastised once for making a student uncomfortable. A one on one office hours visit with a beautiful young coed when the building is empty is kind of dangerous.'

Despite his nervousness about the situation, she was a good student, and he really did like her as a person. "So have a seat, and tell me what's up." He waived at a chair across the office.

Instead, she sat on the chair right next to him. "I'm having a problem with my boyfriend, and I could use a little... help."

He stopped himself from either closing or rolling his eyes. 'Why do the beautiful ones ask MY advice on their boyfriends?'

"Well, professor, I know you've been open about being a widower and all, and I thought you might have the experience to help me. Besides," yes, that was definitely a blush, "I like you, and I trust you, and you've been very helpful with advice in the past."

He looked at her, and gave her his best friendly smile. "So, let's hear it already. What's the problem?"

She took a deep breath, and he forced himself not to look down from her eyes as her chest moved. "My boyfriend is pushing me to have sex, and..." the blush deepened even further... "I don't want to, at least not yet. But he says if I don't start 'putting out' soon, he's going to dump me, and I don't want to lose him either."

"Danielle, first, when a guy starts making threats to get a girl to 'put out'; it's like a high pressure car salesman. He's trying to pressure you into what HE wants, and he may not be concerned about what's best for YOU, or what YOU want. And if he'd dump you for not jumping in the sack when he snaps his fingers, he's probably not the best boyfriend for you anyway. But somehow, I don't think that simple, straightforward answer is going to satisfy you."

"But, he's the first boyfriend I've ever had!" she said.

"That doesn't mean he has to be the only one, ever, either. I know it's hard to risk displeasing your boyfriend, but you have to think of yourself too. And if he's a boyfriend worth keeping, he should be thinking about what's best for you too."

"I know it's hard for you to believe, but even if you broke off with him, it wouldn't be the end of the world. You are so beautiful, so desirable, and such a wonderful person, there are a lot of other guys out there, good guys who won't pressure you to have sex, who would love to have a chance at being your boyfriend." 'Oh, no!' he thought. 'I called my student beautiful and desirable. The Title IX police will be after me if they hear about this.'

She leaned forward, and put her hand on his knee. It was even harder not to look down, knowing what had just come into view, but he kept his gaze on her eyes.

"Thank you," she said. "That's very sweet of you to say. But I had a compromise idea I thought I'd ask your advice on."

"So, what's the idea?"

"Ummm," she said, as her blush returned, "I heard that sometimes you can satisfy a guy without risk of getting... pregnant, with oral sex. I've already let him... fondle me, but that just gets him more ... excited. Maybe I could... give him release, without actually having sex. What do you think?"

"Well, I still think it is wrong of him to put any pressure on you to do anything you aren't ready for. But it is true that if you keep your pants on, you can give him a great experience with oral sex, and no chance of getting pregnant. It is also true that," he wiggled his fingers, "with Rosy Palm and her five sisters, he can give himself release whenever he wants, and you don't have to be involved at all. I think he's wrong to be putting pressure on you at all."

"You may be right, but I don't want to ... get him all excited, and then leave him frustrated, if I can avoid it. That's not entirely nice either. But there is another problem."

"What's the other problem?"

The blush reached its darkest yet. "I don't know how to do ... oral sex, and I don't want to be in the situation of offering him ... oral sex, and then backing out, because... it turns out I hate it, or ... or I leave him excited and frustrated, because I couldn't do it right. So I need your help."

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

"I want you to teach me how to do oral sex. Then, after I've practiced on you, I'd... know how to satisfy my boyfriend."

"This is wrong on so many levels. I already told you I think your boyfriend is wrong. And I could lose my job if I did any such thing with a student. I'm a professor; I'm in a position of authority over you, even if you aren't in a class of mine right now. No one would believe I wasn't using my position to take unfair advantage of you. It's just... wrong."

"I promise, I'd never tell a soul. I never told anyone that you sneak looks down my neckline, after all." She deliberately leaned further forward, and arched her back a little, to give him a perfect view. "Go ahead and look. It makes me feel so sexy and desirable when you sneak peeks. I love it. And you are a warm, caring, and sensitive person, and I know you would be so patient and sensitive while you were teaching me. And I really find you ... kind of attractive. I know I'm too young for you, but I don't want a boyfriend. I just want you to teach me how to please a man. No commitments. Just a little ... independent study in sex education." She started unbuttoning her blouse.

"I know you find me attractive. Don't you want to teach me how to do oral sex on you? Wouldn't you like that?" She shed her blouse entirely. "Do you want to unfasten my brassiere, or do you just want to play with my titties in their cups? Please, teach me how to ... give you pleasure. No one else will ever know."

With a moan, knowing what a risk he was taking, he leaned forward and gave her a deep kiss. She returned it eagerly. "Oh, you are such a good kisser..." After a few moments, she moaned with pleasure. "Oh, your hands are so gentle, ... that feels so good... now how can I please you?"

"Undo my belt and pants, and unzip me." She complied, like the obedient student she was. "Now, you can stop any time you want to, for any reason or no reason, and remember, this has nothing to do with the college, or classes, or anything."

"Oh," she gasped. "It's so BIG."

"When you are ready, lean forward and give the tip a kiss. You can get on your knees, if you want."

"It's sticky on the end."

"Does it taste OK? Smell OK?"

"Ummm, yes. Tasty. Can I play with it?"

"You can play with it, as long as it's gentle. You can always ask a guy to shower first, that's OK. Now, when you are ready, try to take the whole tip, the head, into your mouth." She complied. "Don't use your teeth at all. Lick it like a tootsie pop. Suck it like a child who loves sucking her thumb. Lick your tongue around the edge of the head. OOOOHHH... Oooohhhhh..., yes..."

"If you want to bring a guy to climax, wrap your hand around the shaft. Move your hand up and down. Start slow, and watch the man's reactions, and adjust your speed. Yes, that's a good start."

He was gasping for breath. "Some people learn how to take the whole length into their mouth, and use the lips on the shaft, instead of the hand. But some people are too bothered by the gag reflex, and the mouth on the tip with the hand on the shaft is just fine. Oh... Yes... just fine."

"Some guys start pushing themselves into your mouth, grabbing your head and pushing your head closer, or some other way encourage you to go deeper or faster. Oh, yes, longer strokes. Yes."

"If you keep it up, and things go well, the guy will squirt, sooner or later, and he'll often surprise even himself. He should warn you, but guys don't always tell you soon enough. So you have to pay attention. Decide if you want to pull away, so it squirts all over, or keep going, and take it in your mouth. And decide soon; it's going to blow... ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

"You can swallow it if you want; or grab a tissue, and spit. Some like the taste; some don't." He lay back panting in his chair. "You have a natural talent for this, let me tell you."

"So you say I was good?" She pulled his face between her breasts. He immediately started kissing them. She began moaning softly. He began stiffening again.

She looked, in surprise. "I thought guys needed, you know, time to recover?"

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I haven't been with a woman since my wife died, and you are so beautiful..."

"Oh, goodie, I get to practice again. Ummm, Ummm..."

It took longer the second time, but only because he had fired one load already. She sucked him dry, and licked him clean.

"Wow," he said. "You've certainly mastered the basics. But I want to make sure you know..."

"What?"

"It doesn't have to be all one sided. A woman can do oral sex on a man, but a man can also do oral sex on a woman. What's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander, you know."

She looked at him with very large eyes. "Um, how does that work?"

'If this gets out,' he thought, 'I'm dead already.' "Do you want me to show you?" She nodded.

"I'll put my pants back on. Remember, if even one of those little guys makes it inside you, you could get pregnant." He blushed. "Usually, I did my wife first, so her pants could be back on before the little buddy came out to play."

"Would you feel comfortable lying on the floor?"

Without a word, she dropped her jeans, and laid down. He gently kneeled before her, and parted her legs, then parted her hair between her legs. Unlike his late wife, the spot of interest was easy to see. Gently, he caressed her body, and then leaned down to use his tongue. After a bit, he put his hands underneath her, to lift her to a different angle. She wrapped her legs around his head, gently kicking his back with her heels. She started panting.

"Please don't yell," he whispered, "I can't be absolutely sure the building is empty." She just panted deeper. She started moaning, then panting again. Finally, she suddenly relaxed. "Oh, ... oh... I had no idea it could be so good," she said. "I wonder if my boyfriend would do that for me?"

"It seems only fair to me," he replied.

"So, you said I mastered the basics?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"Could I have an appointment for next week?"

"What for?"

"If that's the basics, I want to try the advanced class!"

***

Right after she left, Alice came to his office again. "You know, Paul, my office is right under yours. Those were some very interesting noises, for someone grading papers alone in his office."

She smiled. "Never mind, I won't ask, so you don't have to say anything. We'll talk later."

***

Three days later, he got an urgent call to attend a judicial board meeting. He went straight over from his last class. Alice was there.

"What's up, Alice? I thought you were an alternate for this committee."

"Well, apparently, one of the students involved has an advisor on this committee, so I got called in. But that's all I know."

"Well, colleagues," said the Dean of Students, "we have a situation. And let me remind you, schools who get in trouble for not handling sexual assault cases correctly, can lose all of their federal financial aid, so we need to step carefully here."

"Excuse me," Paul said, "but as important as Federal funding is, isn't it kind of more important to give a fair hearing to both accused and victim, than to spend time worrying about whether or not we might lose financial aid?"

"Obviously, Professor Barton hasn't dealt with Federal Regulations enough," snickered Bart Burns, an education professor.

"Never mind. Forget I said anything. What's the situation?"

"Well, apparently, a young lady agreed to provide oral gratification to her boyfriend, but he wasn't satisfied with that, and wanted more. She said no. He apparently didn't take no for an answer. Bottom line: She says rape. He says she consented. It happened in our dorm. They are in some of the same classes. We have to decide what actions are appropriate, and how to rearrange their schedules so they aren't in classes together. So we need to schedule a hearing, and then some more meetings after that."

"Come on, she admitted having sex with him. She can't complain about it if she started it."

"Excuse me, but even if she had agreed to intercourse, which she says she didn't, she has the right to change her mind."

"If we don't throw the book at him, we could lose our federal funding."

"If we penalize him, he can sue us for damages."

The Dean of Students slammed her hand on the table. "Stop that, all of you. We haven't had the hearing yet. You don't even know who is involved yet, but you seem to have already decided what to do before the discussion begins. I will NOT have people deciding a case on their prejudices, rather than on what the investigation turns up."

"Dr Barton had the right of it. The MOST important thing is that we provide a fair hearing to both parties. Not every accusation is valid. Not every person who says she agreed is telling the truth. That's why we have to have a hearing. Yes, we need to be careful for a lot of reasons, but we need to conduct an investigation; fair; thorough; impartial."

"If any of you have reason to recuse yourself in a situation between Danielle Stone and Gabe Simpson, let me know."

'NO,' he thought. "Um, I have had Danielle in a class before, and she has asked me for personal advice, and I'm wondering if I should recuse myself." 'And I had oral sex with her, and I could get in so much trouble...' he thought to himself.

"We've all had students in classes. Does having her in class make you unable to be objective about this situation?"

"No, I think I can be objective, but I do know her." 'I came REALLY close to knowing her in the Biblical sense!' he thought. Then he noticed that Alice was looking in the Pictorial directory. Then she looked up at him with wide eyes. 'Busted', he thought to himself.

"Alice, I know the student, but she isn't an advisee or a student in a class this semester. Should I recuse myself?"

"I've had Gabe Simpson in a class before. Based just on what you said, if you recused yourself, I'd have to recuse myself too, and we're already out of alternates. So if you can be objective, let's just go with it."

Danielle sat at the end of the table, with a box of tissues next to her. She had a black eye. Used tissues were already going into the waste basket. The three men and two women on the committee were sitting, mostly silently, listening to her explain her sexual situation with her (ex) boyfriend.

The Dean of Students was asking most questions, and fortunately, she had a soothing, low, non-threatening voice. "So, you did oral sex on your boyfriend. What happened next?"

"Well, he did, um, get release."

"Did she spit or swallow?" Bart whispered to Paul. Bart got an elbow in his stomach for his troubles.

"Then he said, um, he said, that it was good, but it wasn't enough. He said I've been ... teasing his... prick for long enough, and I owed him. I said no, I won't do more than that, not yet."

She took a deep breath. (Paul noticed that his male colleagues all had a sudden intake of breath at the same time.) "Then he grabbed me, and flipped me on my back, on my bed, and jumped on top of me. He said, 'I know you'll love it once we get going.' And I said 'no'. And then I yelled 'no'. And then I screamed. But the room next to me was playing music really loud, and I don't think anyone could hear me. And he ripped my favorite pair of panties, and he... stuck it inside. And it HURT. And I screamed louder. And he said he loves it when his women scream. I yelled 'it HURTS.' And he said he was just getting started, so I'd better just enjoy the ride."

And I finally got loose enough to yank the lamp off of my desk, and I hit him on the head with it. And he punched me, and said something about 'playing rough.' And, I think that even excited him, 'cause it was right about then he moaned, and then collapsed on top of me. I managed to dump him onto the floor, and jumped for the door, and I ran into the girl's bathroom. I was BLEEDING. I stayed there for an hour until a friend came in, and we went to the R.A. together. He was long gone, by then. And I hope I never see him again." Tears were running freely down her cheeks.

"Does anyone have any immediate questions?"

"Before this... incident, were you a virgin?" asked one member.

"Not relevant," said the Dean of students. "She doesn't have to answer."

"Was this the first time you've done oral sex on a man?"

"Not relevant," said the Dean of students. (Paul very quietly heaved a sigh of relief.)

"Let me see if I have this right," said Chuck Smith, fine arts professor and the final member of the committee. "Whatever you may or may not have done before, you invited a man into your bedroom, sat him down on your bed, clothing got removed, you performed oral sex on him, and then when he took that as an invitation to have sexual intercourse, you said 'No, thank you, I'd rather not. And Golly, he just didn't stop. Is that it?"

She closed her eyes, and made a sound almost like a growl. "I said 'NO', I said 'STOP', I said 'you're HURTING me', and I hit him over the head with a lamp. I regret what I did, and maybe I was stupid to think he would take NO for an answer. But I never said 'yes' to intercourse; only to oral sex, and I regret saying that, believe me. What do YOU call it when a woman says 'no', and a man forces her to have sex anyway? I call it RAPE, and I don't feel safe with him around."

"But you felt safe enough before to do oral sex on him before. What changed?"

"Excuse me, but are you an idiot? What changed was, he forced me to have sex, and hit me, and hurt me, and now he's trying to claim it was all my fault. Are we done here? I don't like what you're implying."

Chuck Smith took a deep breath, and looked like he was about to explode. Alice kicked him solidly in the shin. The Dean of Students glared at him, and said, "I think that's enough questions for right now. I'm sorry to put you through this; I think you can go back to your dorm for now. We'll call you if we have any more questions." Danielle gave one last glare at Chuck Smith. She briefly locked eyes with Paul, but her facial expression was totally blank.

***

Gabe sat at the end of the table, with a box of tissues next to him. He did not touch them. The three men and two women on the committee were sitting, mostly silently, listening to him explain his side of the story.