University Pleasures Ch. 03

The only awkward moment happened when David quizzed his mother about Tom.

"Is he going to move in with us?" the boy asked, his voice less concerned and more curious.

"No dear," Dana replied. "Not for a while at least."

That conversation had not even occurred between Tom and Dana; and while it made both of them blush slightly, it wasn't enough to bother them in any way.

After dinner, Tom helped clean the table and the dishes while Dana spent more time with her son. Standing in the kitchen with the mother, Tom could sense that she was thinking hard. He didn't press the issue, waiting on her to make the first move in conversation.

"How much do you like my daughter?" Claire asked.

"Terribly so," Tom replied.

"You're not going to... hurt her, are you?"

Tom wasn't shocked; given all that Dana had told him about herself, how could her mother not be worried.

"I won't," he said, "because we keep an open line of conversation."

The mother smiled but her attitude was still tense.

"She really - really likes you."

"And I love her too," Tom said.

"If you hurt her, I'll cut you," the mother half-joked.

It was meant as a quip; Claire couldn't hurt a fly, but the sentiment that came with it was sincere. Tom, shuffling the dishes from the tray to the table, addressed the issue head-on. He understood the mother's need.

"I've known Dana for two years now," he told her mother. "She is the most wonderful friend I've had in a very long time. And I love her so - it's... insane all she went through."

It was clear the mother wasn't certain how much Dana had told him; then again, the revelations had mostly happened before Dana could talk to her.

"We shouldn't speak of this without her," Claire said.

"Agreed."

She smiled at him; she enjoyed this young man's attitude. He was kind, helpful, certainly smart enough to hang around her daughter.

Because this was break week for David's school as well, it was agreed that he could spend another night at his grandmother's. He jumped for joy - Tom and Dana were also pleased because it meant more intimate time for them. David dragged Tom to his room - he had one at his grandmother's place - and showed him his books, toys and games. They chatted for a short while, David seemingly accepting Tom's presence in the household without considerations. Tom suspected Dana had talked to him about it, told him to make her new boyfriend feel at home. Eventually, Dana came in and relieved Tom of his duties.

It was agreed that the couple would stick around until David's bedtime, after which they might return to either of their homes. It didn't exactly turn out like that, at least not immediately After David was put to the bed, the trio of mother, daughter and boyfriend wound up sitting in the living room, chatting away. The conversation quickly turned serious, as Dana confided that she had told Tom most everything of her past. Claire stared at him with concern.

"It doesn't matter to me," Tom reassured her. "We all have pasts..."

Not only was Claire Hendrix aware of her daughter's sexual proclivities (and the existence of her adopted daughter), she didn't seem to judge them harshly in any ways.

"My daughter is a wildfire," Claire commented with a smile. "To be honest, a bit like me before I got married."

Tom couldn't help but be curious; given that she was in her sixties now, and knowing that she had married upon giving birth to Dana at the age of 21, this took them back forty years, to 1974.

"This isn't news to my daughter," Claire replied, "but before meeting my husband - her father - I had six or seven boyfriends. It's been so long, I barely remember their names."

The joking tone told Tom this wasn't a sore subject in any way, neither did it make Dana uneasy.

"Flower power?" he inquired.

"Not quite," she corrected him. "That was a few years before. But I was a hippie of sorts; sex wasn't a big deal. And then - this precious angel came into my life, and she was worth giving it all up."

She grabbed her daughter's hand; Tom enjoyed seeing this relaxed attitude towards open conversation as much as the love that existed in this place. No wonder Dana had made it out of her troubles.

"I blame her father much more," the mother suddenly said, switching tone.

"Mom..."

"He has right to know dear. If he really cares about you, he has a right to know."

Tom grew fearful at those words; he was hoping not to hear that the man had inflicted any kind of assault on his daughter. Fortunately, it was not so, as Claire related the tale. He listened attentively, his eyes often going to Dana to check on her reaction.

"Dana was about David's age when he left us - except, he didn't quite leave at first. At first, he stepped out - vanished for a month or so - came back like nothing had happened. I confronted him, and he told me he had met this young thing and spent a few weeks with her. I was angry of course - not for me, I didn't mind him having sex with someone else, it had happened in the past."

"It had?"

"Oh yeah... not often, mind you, but we were sexual explorers - him more than me."

Tom could relate these patterns to Dana's attitude, and they made sense to him. Claire continued her narrative.

"Well, I was mad because he had abandoned our daughter - you can't know how many nights I caught her crying, praying to the good lord to bring her father back. I forced him to sit down with her and explain himself. There was a huge argument - he promised not to do it again."

"Only he did," Dana added. "Twice more - before we kicked him out."

Family drama, Tom told himself, and it reminded him of some of his psychology classes in his college years, about how formative those events could be for a someone's future. The men in Dana's life kept leaving her; no wonder she was desperate for them to stay, and no wonder she was willing to open her sexual boundaries for her lovers to insure that they didn't need to go elsewhere - except he was, and she was telling him to continue. She was afraid confining him to her alone would push him away and she would lose him too. At least, that was one possible explanation.

This entire backstory made Dana's entire being resonate for its truth, and Tom couldn't help but love this woman more and more.

"I can't even imagine," Tom stated. "My parents have been together forever, quiet, simple, loving. I'm blessed for it."

"You are," Claire said.

The conversation wound down after that, moving to other topics; eventually, Tom and Dana rose from the couches to be on their way. Claire walked them to the door.

"Do you have anyone in your life?" Tom inquired to Dana's mother as they reached the door.

"No, not currently. Why are you asking?"

"I'm just thinking that any man would be lucky to have you in his life, and I also think, given all you do for Dana, that you deserve your own brand of happiness."

Claire's eyes almost filled with tears.

"That is so sweet to say..."

"He's right, mom. You have done so much for me."

"Hush now," Claire controlled her emotions. "My reward is my daughter's happiness - don't you two worry about my love life. Just carry on with yours."

Big hugs were exchanged; as they walked out, Dana grabbed Tom's hand.

"You are the best man I have ever met," she whispered to his ear. "And when we get home, I'm going to give you the best blowjob in the world."

Tom grinned.

"Why wait until we get home?"

She grinned back, eager to join his playfulness.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, we're just outside your mother's house, which you know better than me. Do you know any spots where we could entertain ourselves?"

"I might," she whispered back. "Follow me."

Instead of heading for the car, she dragged him around the house and to the back, towards the wooden shed. She pressed him against the building wall and kissed him; her hands quickly went to his pants as she began to take them off. The couple was protected by high fences that would prevent anyone from looking in on them; however, the living room's back window gave an indirect line of sight on them. Tom, glancing in that direction, noticed that Claire had come back into the room. He was tempted to say something but chose to remain quiet; Dana wasn't focusing on it all, pulling his pants and underwear down to reveal his penis. She gently stroked it.

"...oooohh..." Tom moaned.

"Chilly?" she asked him.

"A bit... warm me up?"

Dana was slow with her ministrations; she took her time to glide her hand on Tom's cock, getting him hard gently, adding her hot breath to the sensations, often looking up and locking eyes with him. It took a long time before she brought her lips close to his shaft, as she made him wait.

Every once in a while, Tom's eyes wandered to the living room window, where he could see Dana's mother seated, watching television - she had no inkling of what was transpiring in her backyard. But if she turned her head, how would she react if she saw it? That thought turned Tom on in more than one way.

"You're so hard now," Dana whispered to him.

"Want me... to take you?" he asked her.

"Nope. This is all about you for now. You can... thank me later."

And with those words, she buried her mouth on him, drawing out a long moan from his lips. She pushed him deep into her mouth, almost deepthroating him.

"Mmmmmmmm... Dana..."

His eyes went to the lovely sight of her face below him, her pursed lips wrapped around his erection as she gagged herself on it. His mind still shook at the possibility her mother could accidentally peek outside and spot them but his sight never left his girlfriend's frame as he watched the delicious gestures she offered him up and down his shaft, helping herself with both hands as needed.

"Aahh... Dana... I love you..."

The words escaped his mouth; she had no reaction to them, focused on what she was doing to please him. Tom wondered if, under other circumstances, he would have blurted out the three powerful words; still, he couldn't help but trust in the sentiment he expressed, not merely because of her current actions but because of all those previous weeks spent getting ever closer.

Gradually, Dana worked her magic on Tom, making him shiver as she gobbled him up repeatedly, provoking all the wonder of the experience in both the physical and the psychological.

"Dana... I..."

Tom was close after a few minutes of being played with; he was panting, out-of-breath from the tension in his body. She pulled her mouth away from him, intending on manually finishing him off.

"Come for me, Tom. I want you to," she whispered.

She didn't need to ask twice; Tom focused on the pleasure and the ejaculation fired. Dana had moved sideways to avoid being sprayed. Some of it shot forward onto the grass; the rest dribbled on Dana's hand as Tom grunted his satisfaction.

"UUggghh... f... fuck... yes... uughhh..."

The climax wound down and Tom relaxed, almost collapsing. Dana proceeded to clean him up with her mouth, wiping her hand on the grass to remove the excess semen left there. Tom watched her at work, admiring her handiwork and thankful for the gift.

"Wow..."

"I love you too," she replied.

She couldn't not have heard. Tom bent down to his knees, forgetting about his exposed manhood, and kissed Dana.

"I meant it, you know," he told her.

"I know. So did I. I'm glad you said it first, but I wanted to say it for some time."

"So did I," he replied, "but given everything else..."

He didn't finish his sentence; there was no point. They kissed again, hugging at the same time. Dana's hand played with the softening erection a moment more before helping Tom cover himself. As he did so, Tom glanced towards the back window of the house. Claire Hendrix was still there, seated on her sofa. At this point, Tom felt he needed to mention it.

"I hope your mom didn't see us," he hazarded.

"I hope she did," Dana corrected him.

"Why?"

"Because she has no illusions on me, and I wouldn't want her to."

Since her reaction threw Tom off, she explained herself.

"Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to do it in front of her, but I don't mind that she knows. It's part of the risk of doing it here, and I think she'd probably just smile and close the drapes."

"Maybe," Tom acquiesced. "She does appear open-minded."

"Calculated risks, Tom," Dana commented. "That was my mistake so many years ago. I was young and stupid."

They left the backyard and moved back to the vehicle waiting in the parking. Tom grabbed Dana and pushed her against the passenger door, kissing her in the process. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they embraced for a long time.

"My place or yours?" she asked.

"Well... it depends."

"On what?"

"On which shower is bigger. We're definitely gonna need another one next morning."

Dana giggled, moving her hands from his neck to his butt, squeezing hard.

"Mine then."

He let her go and they climbed into the vehicle to head out. As they rolled, a thought entered Tom's mind - an earlier comment from Dana's son, David.

"I know it's way too soon to speak of this," Tom replied, "but... when the time is right, I think... we should move in together."

"Tom," Dana replied, "I'd like nothing better than to wake up and fall asleep next to you all the time. But we can't - not until the papers are finalized with Randi. That's this Thursday, if all goes well and he accepts the agreement."

"Hopeful?" he inquired.

"Very much so - and if he gives me any trouble, I'm taking his ass to court, and he won't like it. I've talked with Massey at the university, and she's willing to represent me at nominal cost."

Their colleague was a 50 year-old veteran lawyer who also taught Ethics and Law at university, for fun; she wasn't known for being a slouch and she was known to have a particular dislike for unreasonable men. Randi would have quite a fight on his hands should he challenge Dana.

"So the mediation came out well?" Tom asked.

"Better than I had hoped, to be sure."

Eventually, they arrived at Dana's place, heading up to the apartment. As she turned the key in the lock, Dana spoke up.

"When - if we do we move in together, we'll get a new place, if that's all right with you."

"Well," Tom argued, "there would be no place for David at mine, and I'm guessing you want to push this place away from your life?"

"That's the reason, yeah..."

They entered the room; Dana closed the door.

"Don't get me wrong, Tom... I had a great life here before Randi messed it up - before we messed it up, I have to be fair on this. But if I'm redefining myself, a new start - then a new place would make sense."

"We'll talk about it when we feel it's appropriate," Tom concluded the conversation.

For the remainder of the evening, they poured themselves a beer and sat down in the living room, chatting away until midnight. They headed for bed, stripping down to nothing and climbing into the covers. As much as Tom was tempted to return the earlier favor to Dana, he was very tired from all of the day's exercises, and he didn't feel any pressure on that end. His very intention was to make love to her in the morning, and she too seemed to think along those lines.

As they huddled in bed, Tom's mind unwillingy raced to the rest of the week. Monday was to be quiet, but his Tuesday and Wednesday promised action in the form of the 'sex gang', with Rebecca and her friends, who had apparently planned a two-day activity along the lines of having erotic and sexual fun. Tom certainly didn't mind, but after such an intense weekend with Dana - after so many revelations, so much passionate sex and such intense emotions, meeting her mother and getting her approval, not to mention an open declaration of love and talk of moving in together in the uncertain future - Tom wondered if he shouldn't back out.

Right now, with Dana, he was in a perfect place. She was clearly open to him experiencing whatever he wanted, unafraid to experiment and challenge herself and to be bold about it: all the qualities that had differentiated her from Rebecca now resonated in Dana too. The only real difference he could still see was love: with Rebecca and her gang, it was just sexual fun.

"What's wrong?" Dana asked.

She was already in sync with his emotions and his breathing; another reason to perhaps reconsider with the other girls.

"I'm just thinking of us," he said, "and there's nothing wrong there. In fact, it's perfect. It's... scary perfect."

Some light filtered through the window so they could see their faces; she looked up at him and smiled gently.

"This is too fast?"

"Hell no," he emphatically stated. "This is just what I wanted. But..."

He needed to be candid; so far, it had served him well.

"I'm busy on Tuesday and Wednesday," he said.

"I know."

"I'm planning on having... a lot of sex."

The words needed some effort to escape his throat but once they were out, he was satisfied that they needed to be spoken.

"And you're wondering if I'm going to be jealous?"

"Actually... no."

She stared at him, confused for a moment, then figured him out.

"You're wondering if you should go, given all that's happened this weekend."

"Yeah. I mean... Dana, I... really... do love you. I do. So much. And here I am, falling asleep and thinking of sex with other people."

"People?" she stared at him.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, Tom needed to confess.

"There's more than one girl."

"Wow," Dana exclaimed, both surprised and seemingly pleased.

"So?"

He was obviously still asking for her approval; she found it both endearing and troubling. Of course, he meant it as a way of protecting her, but it was also a way for him to discharge himself of his responsibility. She wasn't surprised: it was a pattern with him. The good news it implied was that he would never cheat on her without her permission, so it would never be cheating. The bad news meant he struggled with his own capacity to make this decision.

"So I can't tell you what to do? Besides, you already have plans, I would hate for you to spoil the expectations of whomever you're going to meet."

It wasn't an official permission, and Tom realized what he was asking of her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't put this on you."

"No. But you can put it on us. And, all these things we said over the weekend, they don't change my stance. They just shed some light on it. But I sense you're not telling me something because you're seeking to protect me."

It's not just you I'm protecting, Tom reflected, but Rebecca and myself. 'I'm sleeping with my student. How inappropriate is that!' At first, he didn't know so he couldn't be blamed. Now, he couldn't deny it, not after weeks of casual sex encounters and sex games.

"There are aspects I want to keep to myself," he stated.

"I respect that, but if you can't tell me all, you can't expect me to give you a blank check. I trust you - but I can't trust anyone else because I don't know them."

Tom expressed the idea differently.

"I don't know if I still need them, especially given what you told me over the weekend."

"About me being willing to try anything?"

"Yeah. I mean... that's essentially what they were providing for me. An outlet for experimentation. If I have that with you... well, what more do I need? But a part of me still wants to go. So it's confusing."

"I can imagine."

Dana shrugged off the entire conversation.

"If you want to torture yourself with it Tom, I won't stop you. I can't. All I can say is that I respect you, I respect that when we met, you were hanging out with another girl - apparently a few other girls. I respect that they gave you a lot when I couldn't give you much. But I can't - I won't tell you to stop. I want you to be happy."