“Good! Carmen’s First Theorem of Love and Sex is ‘ask for what you need.’ And actually, that’s going to be the focus of our time together.”
Tessa wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She’d never been comfortable asking Mark, especially if she thought it was something he didn’t enjoy. And the only other sex she’d had was rape, and though she’d pleaded with Kent to stop, it had fallen on completely deaf ears. So her ‘asking’ track record was pretty dismal. Add to that the fact that she’d known Jason all of sixty seconds, and…wow. Could she do this?
“Shall we go, then?” Jason said.
Tessa nodded, grabbed her purse, and allowed Jason to open the door for her.
“Are all Aussies such gentlemen?” she asked, smiling.
“We’re a pretty nice bunch down here, if I say so myself. And most of the time, you’ll find me to be very gentlemanly.”
“Most?”
Jason hit the call button for the elevator. “There will be times when being a gentleman will be far from my mind. But,” he said to Tessa’s quickly darkening eyes, “I will always be a gentle man with you, unless you ask me to be otherwise.”
“I can’t imagine wanting anything other than a gentle man,” Tessa said, when she saw there was no one else in the elevator.
“That’s what you’re here for, Tessa, to imagine the unimaginable. I know this metaphor needs some work, but think of it this way: you’re about to dine at a fine buffet, where you’ll be asked to try the escargot even if you’d always thought you would hate it.”
Tessa couldn’t help herself. She laughed, full-out.
“I told you it was a terrible metaphor,” Jason said, smiling. He leaned so close to Tessa, she could smell the fragrance of his shampoo. “Today will be about me gently pushing you to that buffet table. I’m going to put things on your plate and urge you to try them, even if you think you’ll hate them. But the final decision will always be yours. You’ll look at everything I put on your plate, and learn to ask for what you need.”
Good thing Tessa was leaning against the elevator wall. She might have passed out otherwise.
They spent the first hour sightseeing. Jason drove, pointing out highlights as he negotiated traffic. “Our first stop,” he said, squeezing his Mazda into a parking space.
“This?”
Jason took Tessa’s hand and led her into a small café. He nodded to the waitress behind the front counter and she gave him a smile. “Hi Jason! What do you want today?”
“The usual.”
“Coming up.”
Jason led Tessa to a small table in the corner of the back room. The café was quiet and the light from the front windows did not reach them. It was dim, but not dark. Jason held Tessa’s hand lightly. It felt like the warmth of a friend, not the passion of a lover. It put Tessa at ease instantly.
When the food arrived, Jason slid all of it to his end of the table.
“Our first exercise in asking for what you need,” he said.
“You want me to ask for my food?”
“Yes. One item at a time. What do you want to start with?”
Tessa eyed the choices. Bagel. Scrambled eggs. Bacon. Strawberries. Her throat felt tight and her stomach was nervous.
“Eggs.”
Jason slid the plate of eggs toward Tessa, and she reached for a fork.
“Uh-uh,” he said, gently taking the fork from her hand.
Jason scooped a small bite of eggs onto the fork, leaned into Tessa until she could feel his breath on her cheeks, and steered the fork toward her lips. When Tessa opened her mouth, he slid the fork into it and held it there.
“Slowly, Tessa. Feel the texture. Taste the salt on the eggs.” Jason slowly pulled the fork away. Hypnotized, Tessa swallowed without chewing, which made her cough. Jason handed her a glass of water. “Alright?” he asked, after she took a sip.
Tessa nodded, embarrassed. She was sure she would be the most inept ‘student’ Jason had ever been assigned.
Tessa asked for food from each of the remaining plates. When Jason fed her bagel and bacon, he used his fingers. On the last one, the bacon, he kept his fingers at Tessa’s lips long after she had swallowed. “Bacon has a bit of slip to it.” He wiggled his index finger, “a bit of grease. That’s what makes it so tasty, don’t you think?”
He was hypnotizing Tessa again, and she simply nodded.
He rested the tip of his finger on Tessa’s lower lip. “Get the best of it Tessa, what do you say?”
Tessa tentatively placed her tongue on the tip of Jason’s finger.
“Don’t you really want it all?” Jason’s voice was low and husky.
How did he know? Tessa had never brazenly sucked a man’s finger in a public place before. But she wanted to now, and not just for the bacon grease. Tessa nodded and he slowly parted Tessa’s lips and rested his finger on her tongue. Tessa began to suck, slowly and softly, and a strange thing happened. For the first time since forever, she wanted more.
Jason saw it. He leaned against Tessa, full length body contact. Tessa felt like she’d been hit by a bolt of electricity. “Would you like a strawberry?”
Tessa nodded, without releasing Jason’s finger.
With his left hand, Jason brought a strawberry to Tessa’s lips. She opened her mouth; he slid his finger out and inserted a large, red berry. With his index finger, still wet from Tessa’s mouth, he slowly, lightly traced a path down Tessa’s bare arm, past her waist, to her hips.
Tessa’s eyes opened wide, and she began to suck on the strawberry.
“The strawberry is ripe, isn’t it?” Jason said softly, his lips brushing against Tessa’s ear as he spoke. His trailing finger wound slowly across Tessa’s belly and came to rest on the zipper of her shorts. “What else is ripe, Tessa?” His finger traced the path of the zipper and rested at its lowest point, just above the spot where Tessa had begun to feel small pinpricks of anticipation.
“Ask for what you need Tessa,” he said, pulling the uneaten strawberry from her mouth.
Tessa was silent. She was ten thousand miles from home with a man who was here to help her escape; to help her become a woman who took risks, who could open up, emotionally and sexually. Ask for what you need, Tessa thought. But what was that?
-11-
“I want…I need…” Tessa took her eyes from Jason’s face and glanced around the café. “This is a public place.”
“Yes. But I’ve made arrangements with the owners. No customers will be seated back here until we leave. It’s a private public place. Now, ask for what you need.” Jason pressed the finger that rested on her zipper, and smiled when Tessa’s eyes returned to his.
Tessa’s homework had never been like this. When she touched herself, it did nothing. But this…
“I need you to touch me,” she said, so softly Jason could barely hear her even though his face rested against hers.
“Where?”
“You know. It.”
Jason kissed Tessa’s earlobe and whispered, “To ask for something, you must name it. You can call it anything you like. Some women prefer the proper terms, like clitoris or clit. Others prefer something more romantic, like sweet spot or honey pot. Some enjoy rougher words, like pussy. Whatever you’re comfortable with. But you must name it to ask for it.”
“It…”
“It is?”
Tessa gave in. The gentle pressure of his finger over her shorts made her feel faint and supercharged all at the same time. “Clitoris. Or clit. Touch it.”
“Where?”
Really? A man who helped women overcome sexual issues for a living didn’t know where a woman’s clitoris was? Tessa started to explain, and Jason touched her lips with his free hand.
“This, I know. What I want to know is whether you want my hand here,” and he gently placed his hand on Tessa’s crotch, “or here.” Jason slid one finger underneath the top of Tessa’s waistband and gently touched the top of her panties. “Which place?”
Tessa felt her face get hot and she wasn’t sure whether it was sexual energy or embarrassment.
“Outside.”
Jason moved his hand to rest on top of Tessa’s shorts. It took him only moments to find the exact spot that begged for attention. He moved his fingers firmly up and down, slowly, stopping to gently probe or press.
“No,” Tessa said, and Jason’s fingers stopped moving.
“I made a mistake. I want you to touch me under my shorts.”
Jason unbuttoned Tessa’s shorts and slid the zipper all the way down. “On top of your underwear, or skin to skin?”
Tessa’s eyes darted around the room, once again. There was no one else in this dimly lit back room. Just Jason and an ache so strong Tessa thought she would burst.
“Touch my skin.”
Jason took Tessa’s chin and turned her head slowly until it rested on his shoulder, nestled along his jaw. His lips placed butterfly kisses on her temple as his hand slowly inched under the waistband of her panties. His index finger found her clitoris and he began to stroke. Tessa shivered.
“It’s swollen and warm.” He kept stroking, slow…fast…slow. When Tessa shivered again, he slid his fingers a little lower and gently pressed against the lips of her vagina. Tessa tensed.
“I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to. I just wanted to see how excited you are. Okay?”
Tessa nodded.
“You’re wet,” Jason whispered. “Your body says you want more. Do you?”
Tessa nodded, again.
“Ask for what you need.”
“I want you to touch my clit, and whatever else you touch, to…you know…”
“To make you come?”
Tessa shook her head and thought of years of marriage and months of her own “homework.” “I can’t come. But I want you to make me feel good.”
Jason kissed her forehead. “Because you’ve never had an orgasm doesn’t mean you can’t.” Jason began to massage her swollen clitoris. “Shall we just see what happens?”
Tessa’s response was to shift her bottom to put Jason’s fingers at the perfect angle.
“That a’ girl.”
Jason focused on pressure and pace—fast and slow—until Tessa began to squirm, eyes closed, lips slightly parted. She pressed her hips to meet Jason’s fingers and her breathing became rapid. But she plateaued, and the grimace on her face told Jason she was frustrated.
Jason slid his free hand under her bra and began to knead Tessa’s breast. Tessa groaned. He dipped his finger in Tessa’s wetness to lubricate her throbbing clitoris and stroked and massaged with a pressure unlike any Tessa had ever felt before. When he sensed she was right on the edge, he pinched Tessa’s nipple, bringing her almost to the point of pain, and taking her exactly where she longed to go. Tessa began to spasm. It wasn’t powerful, but it was.
When Tessa stopped quivering, she opened her eyes and looked at Jason.
“Was that what I think it was?”
“Congratulations.”
“It was…” Tessa struggled for words. “It was nice, but not exactly fireworks. Is there something wrong with me?”
Jason pulled his hand out, wiped it on a paper napkin, and pulled Tessa into a hug. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Most firsts aren’t fireworks. But now that you’ve opened yourself up to it, and your body is relaxed and receptive, I think it’s safe to say fireworks are in your future.”
Tessa cried while Jason held her. After a few minutes, she pulled herself together, Jason paid the bill, and they headed back to the Westberg. Jason used the time in the car to further educate Tessa. He began with an explanation of a woman’s orgasm. It was something Tessa had read about, part of her homework, but Jason’s explanation seemed easier to understand. Then he asked Tessa how she had felt, both emotionally and physically. “That wasn’t a rhetorical question,” he said when Tessa didn’t immediately answer. So she thought about it, and answered.
“First I was appalled at myself for letting a man I don’t know touch me there, and in a public place. At first, I was so nervous I thought I might throw up. Then I started to feel something, a little spark. After that, I didn’t care about anything. I just wanted to feel it.”
“And how did you like your first orgasm?” Jason asked. A grin played at the corners of his mouth.
“It felt nice. But mostly it felt like relief.” Tessa’s eyes started to water. “I really thought I was defective.”
They had just come to a stop light, so Jason turned to face Tessa full-on. “You are a beautiful, complete woman. You just need a little help finding your way, that’s all.”
“I need a lot of help finding my way,” Tessa said. But she smiled now.
“Lucky for you, the Aussie Team is the best there is.” When they pulled up to the Westberg, Jason said, “We’re going to the beach this afternoon. Have a rest and a bite to eat. Bring a swim suit. I’ll pick you up at 2:00.”
-12-
David, just a quick report from Australia! Had breakfast out this morning and saw some sights. Sydney is far more complex than I ever knew. It’s an interesting mixture of cosmopolitan and down-home. The weather is great…hate to rub it in since the weather report on line says Chicago is 36° and overcast. Sorry : - (
I’m going to the beach this afternoon. Have to leave in a few minutes. I’ll write more when I have time.
Yours, Tessa
PS: thanks again for understanding
***
“I thought Bondi Beach was the main beach in Sydney,” Tessa said.
“It is the most well-known, and it is beautiful. But Bondi won’t provide quite the experience I’m looking for, so…” Jason held Tessa’s hand as they stepped off the ferry, “welcome to Watson’s Bay.”
Tessa looked around. “Where’s the beach?”
Jason laughed. “Patience, patience. And follow me.”
Jason led Tessa through a place called Camp Cove, up some stairs and past some old gun emplacements. “They were erected during the war,” Jason explained. After a few minutes, they arrived at the top of another beach.
“Welcome to Lady Jane Beach,” Jason said, smiling. “It’s a great place for some sun, some beautiful swimming, and freedom.”
Tessa understood the first two things. Sun and swimming; who wouldn’t want that at a beach. She was about to ask for an explanation of the third when her eyes found the answer to the question forming on her lips.
“Jason! This is a nude beach.”
“That it is my lady. Shall we?” Jason motioned for Tessa to step ahead. “It’s the middle of the week, so not as crowded as it could be, though lots have the time off for holiday. Still…” Jason pointed to a spot. “Over there. Not too crowded.”
Jason unfolded a large blanket and motioned for Tessa to sit. “I have cold water and diet soda and sunscreen. Don’t want to burn those sensitive spots that aren’t used to seeing sun.” His smile was wicked and Tessa blushed.
“I will not be taking off my clothes.” She looked around at the naked buns and naked boobs, not all of them particularly pretty.
“Suit yourself.” Jason stripped off his tee shirt. “How about you help me out here?” He handed Tessa the sunscreen and turned his back to her. “I’ll do the same for you. If. You. Ask. For. It.” He winked.
After they’d both slathered up in sunscreen, Jason invited Tessa to a swim. “The water here is wonderful. Come on.”
Tessa waded waist high into the blue with Jason right behind her.
“This is great,” she said, taking in the view. “Your country is beautiful.”
Instead of an answer, she felt Jason’s arms slide around her waist. He pulled her gently against him and rested his chin on top of her head. “It’s not the only thing of beauty here. This morning was getting-to-know-you. This afternoon is about taking it the next step. Why do you think I took you to a nude beach, Tessa?”
“Because you want to get me naked?”
Jason
squeezed her a little tighter. “Getting naked or not is totally up to you. That wasn’t my reason. Try again.”
Tessa turned her head back toward the beach. Old. Young. Men. Women. Skinny. Not so skinny. All kinds and colors and genders and, from the looks of it, sexual orientations. The only thing that was common to all of them was that they seemed relaxed just as they were; naked and no big deal.
“You want me to see that normal people can be comfortable in their own skin.”
“Bravo. You get an A. Tessa, you are at a free beach with a man who will not judge you, who will do whatever you tell him you need, as long as it doesn’t endanger life and limb or get me tossed in jail.” He slid one of his hands into the water. A moment later, it came to rest on Tessa’s belly. A finger wiggled underneath the top of Tessa’s bikini bottom. He tickled the skin just below her belly button. “Ask for what you need.”
Tessa felt everything at once. The cool ocean water that lapped above her waist. The tease of Jason’s finger, under the water and skimming just under the top of her bikini bottoms. The growing heat in what she’d begun to think of as her sweet spot. The feel of Jason’s growing physical response to her, hard against her bottom. Ask for what I need, she thought.
“I’m not ready to show my naked self to the world,” Tessa said, “but I’d like to feel the ocean on my bottom.”
“Be more specific in your request.”
Tessa stepped on Jason’s foot.
“Ouch!” He playfully pulled on her hair.
“I want you to slide my bikini bottoms off.”
“Just so you can feel the ocean? Or is there something else you’d like to feel?”
He was going to make her ask. Damn it.
“The ocean, yes. But not just the ocean.”
“Tess-Ah…ask for what you need.”
“What you did this morning was really great. I want more of that. But I also want to know what it feels like if you go inside. With your fingers!”
“You’ve not experienced that before?”
Mark had done a little of that, but when Tessa failed to become excited by it, he gave it up. For the majority of their marriage, he simply got hard, got in, came and got out. Tessa wanted more than that now.
Tessa's Escape to Athena's Ground Page 5
