Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter Three



   The parking lot was almost full, including her aunt's car.  We walked
right in and sat down at the table with them.

   "Appetizers are on the way," Jenny said.  "Hi!"

   Laci added her chirpy "Hi!" I noted that she didn't look "butch" this
evening.  Neither of them were particularly feminine-looking, but then
again, my jeans-clad Kim fit right in.

   Laci noted, "You two look like a couple of bookends."

   "Yeah.  Isn't it NEAT?  And I didn't tell `im what to wear, either.  It
just happened!"

   And so we had a good meal, conversing about Kim's day, my new car, Kim
driving my new car, the music thing, the computer.

   "Yeah," Jenny pointed out... "That was the "We're in the bedroom hookin'
up" comment."

   Kim giggled.  "He's making his second bedroom into an office.  He's got
a really BIG..." and she pulled the same evil grin on her aunt, this time
in person.  "printer."

   Laci laughed.  "That's disgusting..."

   "It's FUNNY!" chirped Kim.

   Laci didn't let up.  "So Tim, you're walking into this place with a
teenaged girl wrapped around your arm and somebody you know from work
happens to see you..."

   "Then," I said, "they think either of two things.  The ones with the
clean minds will think "There's Tim with his niece." The ones with the
dirty minds will say "Way to go, Tim!" And me?  I don't care." And I
recalled that yes, when we walked in; Kim was indeed wrapped around my arm.
Since she'd spent the majority of the time we were walking together in the
exact same configuration, I hadn't given it a lot of thought.

   Kim just smiled.  "I'm just being friendly, that's all."

   Jenny dropped the bomb, though.  "I thought ya'll made a nice couple."

   I chose to push that statement to the back of my mind.

   Jenny kept on.  "Tim, what do you have planned for the rest of the
evening?"

   "Plans?  I don't have plans.  I was going to go to my new home and go to
sleep in front of the TV.  Why?"

   "Well," Jenny said, "If you want to join us, we can go to our house and
play Trivial Pursuit.  We can always stand some fresh meat."

   I was thinking, "Ah, Trivial Pursuit.  The game my sister refuses to
play with me anymore." But I said, "I haven't played that in YEARS."

   The check came and I tossed a gold card at it over protests from Jenny
and Laci.  "No, I was going to pay for Kim anyway.  It's no big deal."

   "You're setting women's lib back a decade..." Laci said.

   "'Women' has nothing to do with it.  You ever see a bunch of guys eat
together?  Fistfights erupt over who GETS to pay.  But if I've offended,
you can slip me a twenty..."

   "I'm not THAT offended," Laci laughed.

   "Let's go," Jenny said.  We got up to leave and I paid attention this
time as Kim wrapped her arm around mine.  We had to unhitch to get past the
crowd at the exit, and when we got outside, I decided to just experiment. I
put my arm around her waist.  She COULD have pulled away.  Really.  She
could have.  But that's not what she did.  What she did was step closer to
me and swing her hips to bump mine, and the smile at me.

   We got in the car.  Kim spoke first.  "Why'd you do that?" she asked.

   "Do what?" I played dumb.

   "Put your arm around me... walking out."

   "Because YOU'VE been putting your arm in mine.  And I thought it just
might be pleasant to have my arm around a pretty girl."

   "Oh."

   I looked sideways at her as we navigated out to the street.  There was a
smug expression on her face.  So I assumed that I had not offended.

   "Just so you know, this pretty girl' is used to winning at Trivial
Pursuit.  Aunt Jenny has 'Kimberly Rules', you know..."

   "I don't know.  What's 'Kimberly Rules'?"

   "Don't act like I told you, but the only way I can get them to let me
play is spot `em each a couple of pieces for a head start." She was
grinning.

   "That's nice to know.  My sister didn't think of 'Timothy Rules'.  They
just stopped playing with me."

   Giggle.  "Then THIS is gonna be fun.  Just play along like you don't
know anything.  I don't know if they'll try Kimberly Rules with you being
new and all."

   It was a good thing that all the hot chocolate mugs were empty by the
time it was readily apparent that Kim wasn't pulling punches, and neither
was I.  Each of us had completed all the categories while Jenny still
needed two and Laci three.  And I won the game ONLY because I answered the
end of game question before Kim got maneuvered to the final spot.

   Jenny and Laci expressed friendly outrage.  Kim was giggling.  "You beat
me.  I haven't been beat in a fair game since Aunt Jenny bought the stupid
thing."

   Laci said, "Hmmpphh!  Engineer.  I should've known better."

   "I'm sorry, guys," I said.  "Next time I'll spot you some pieces." I
smirked.

   "Like we do to Kim?  Kimberly Rules?"

   Kim giggled.  "I told `im already.  But I thought I'd beat HIM, too!"

   Jenny tittered, "Little Miss Kimberly has met her match."

   "Nuh-uh," I said.  "I'm forty.  She's sixteen.  Imagine how she'll be
with twenty more years..."

   Laci said, "She won't live that long.  Somebody'll kill `er in the first
Trivial Pursuit slaying on record."

   I sat on the sofa, falling back into the cushions.  "Mmmmm.  This feels
good.  The floor was killing me." And Kim slid in beside me.  And
surprising me, Jenny slid in on the other side.  Now this was a normal
sized sofa, made for three.  Laci taking her place between Jenny and the
other end of the sofa had us all cozy.  My arms were trapped between me and
the two women, so I did the natural thing and pulled them free and put them
on the back of the sofa.  Kim took this as her cue to snuggle in against
me. That was less of a surprise than her next move, which was to take the
hand of that arm and pull it down over her shoulder, wrapping it around
her. And the surprise ratcheted up a notch when Jenny's hand went inside my
leg, ostensibly to pull herself closer to me to better fit Laci into the
group.

   I glanced at Jenny.  Jenny's eyes met mine.  "Oops," she said.  "I
didn't mean to grope Kim's guy."

   "You groped MY guy?" Kim squealed.  "Aunt Jenny!"

   Jenny was reaching for the TV remote.  "It was an accident." She
snickered.  "That's an outtie.  I prefer innies.  But I fear that we are
overloading Tim's senses."

   "Yeah, something like that." I said.  "I haven't sat with this many
pretty ladies in a long time.  Like never."

   "Silver words'll get you nowhere, buddy boy," Laci laughed.

   And Kim put the cap on it.  "Besides, Aunt Jenny, he's mine.  I've got
dibs." And when I turned to look at her, she smiled sweetly.  She patted my
hand, whispering theatrically.  "I'm just saving you from ravenous
females."

   I looked at my watch.  After eleven.  "Well, ladies, I think it's time I
go save myself.  It has been a delightful evening with you all." I turned
to sweet, pretty Kim.  "And especially you, Miss Kim."

   I got up, expecting to let myself out.  Kim bounced up immediately,
taking my hand, and then Jenny and Laci got up too.  I led the gang to the
door.  "I can find the door, ladies," I said.

   Laci laughed, "Yah hear that, Jen?  He still calls us ladies."

   Jenny smiled.  "You can call us ladies, Tim.  We're glad you joined us.
But next time you get to play by Kimberly Rules.  Just so you know."

   And I was surprised to have Kim throw arms around my neck and kiss me
lightly on the lips.  "Thank you for sharing your day with me, Tim." And
another kiss.  "Tomorrow?"

   "Sure, sweetie," I caught myself saying.  "But after nine, okay?"

   "Okay.  G'nite, babe!"

   I don't remember walking home.

   I lay in bed after the shower and the shave and while I was drifting
asleep, it was appearing that I'd acquired a teenaged girlfriend.  An
unusual teenaged girlfriend.

   Sleep came.  Good sleep.  Really good sleep, because I awoke to a
ringing, buzzing commotion as my cellphone tried jitterbugging at the end
of its charger cable.  I blinked my eyes, trying to clear then as I reached
around to grab the phone.  The clock said 09:00.  The phone brought me a
smile, because it had a number I didn't recognize and when I answered, the
voice coming out was sweet and teenaged and sounded very much like Kim.

   "Hi, babe," she said.  "Did I wake you up?"

   "Uh-huh," I said.  "But I usually don't sleep this late anyway."

   "I set my alarm for nine," she said.  "And when it went off, I called
you.  If you come over, we're doin' breakfast here.  Bacon and eggs and
hash browns."

   "Who's cooking that?" I asked.

   "We all are," Kim answered.  "Aunt Jenny's a pretty good cook.  Me and
Laci, we're helpin'."

   "They said that I was invited?"

   "Yeah.  I won't tell you what else they said." Giggle.

   "What else did they say?"

   "Ummm, oh well, they said that I shouldn't HAVE to call.  I should just
roll over and slap you on the butt."

   "Uh..."

   "Yeah, that's kinda what I said.  Are you comin' over?"

   "Yeah.  I'll be there.  In a few minutes.  I need to get dressed."

   Brightly, she answered.  "'Kay, babe.  See ya in a minute."

   I hoped that weekend morning informal dress would work.  I pulled on a
pair of khaki shorts (belted, of course.  Engineer, you know.) a colored,
pocketed (that makes it formal) t-shirt, and shoes with athletic socks. 
Five minutes later I was let in the door by Kim in a nightshirt and ushered
into the dining room.  "Sit!" she said.

   Jenny's head and shoulder appeared in the kitchen door.  "How do you
like your eggs?" She was wearing a football jersey.  I couldn't see what
was on the bottom half.

   "Over easy works fine."

   "Coffee?" came Laci's voice.

   "God, yes," I said.  "Two sugars.  One cream."

   Laci came in with a tray.  "Do I look like a waitress?" The tray held
mugs of steaming coffee and a sugar bowl and little pitcher of cream.

   I looked.  She was wearing a nightshirt, long t-shirt looking thing that
ended at the thigh.  It did little to hide some rounded curves and a nice
pair of titties that despite the absence of a bra, were NOT sagging.  In
the back of my mind I was entertaining the thought that she was actually
attractive.  I took the offered tray and doctored my coffee to my taste.  I
was savoring caffeinated vapor and sipping when Kim sat a plate of food in
front of me and sat down beside me with her own plate.

   Jenny appeared with plates for herself and Laci.  Jenny's football
jersey was all she had on too, and hers ended slightly below the cheeks of
her ass.  I breathed deeply.  At least she had panties on.

   Kim looked at me.  Yes, there were two other women in the room, women
who, had it not been for them being lesbian, I would have, well, they WERE
still attractive.  But I had eyes for Kim.  Only.

   Kim smiled.  "I forgot your orange juice."

   "I'm okay, Kim," I said.

   "Nope.  I'll be right back." She came back with four glasses and a
carton of juice.  She sat back down, poured her and me each a cup and
scooted her chair closer as we ate breakfast together.  We finished
together and as I sat back, I felt her hand pat my bare knee under the
table.  I couldn't let this go unacknowledged.  I reached under the table
and squeezed her fingers.  She smiled at me.

   We found out that four was entirely too many for the small kitchen of
these apartments.  Jenny and Kim shooed me out.  I thanked them for
breakfast and went back to my own apartment.  Twenty minutes later there
was the doorbell.  I opened it, expecting Kim.  It wasn't Kim.  It was
Jenny.

   "Oh, hi," I said.  "Come in."

   "Tim, I don't have long, Laci's waiting on me, and Kim's taking her
shower.  We need to talk."

   "We?  About what?"

   "Not what," she said, "who.  Kim."

   "Okay.  You've got my attention." I was all ears.

   She drew a breath.  "Things are strange in my life right now.  Laci an'
me, well, we'd be living together, but she's worried about what it shows
Kim.  But that's not the half of it."

   "No?"

   "No.  Kim's never been one to go on about guys.  She's been on two,
maybe three dates since she moved in with me.  And then YOU come along. 
It's like somebody hit her in the head with a hammer.  Tim, don't take this
wrong, but she's thunderstruck.  I've heard of it.  I might even believe
it, you know, 'love at first sight' but maybe it's fairy tale stuff, too,
but you need to know..."

   "How do you know this?" I asked.

   "Every time she's been with me the last two days it's been "Tim this"
and "Tim that" and "He's so nice.  Don't you think he's nice?"

   "Look, Jenny.  I just met her and you two days ago.  I didn't do
anything to encourage her.  She's the neatest girl her age I've ever met.
Make that ANY age.  She's a dream for a geek like me.  But I'm over twenty
years older than her.  I just thought I was somebody interesting to her,
somebody to break the routine."

   "So you're saying 'no way'?  I mean, if she..."

   "Oh, I'd love to think it was possible.  She's smarter than smart, and
funny and mature and... Do you see how **I** sound?" I don't know what I
was trying to say.

   "SO you would...?"

   "Hurt her?  Never!"

   "But what if she looks at you and says, 'Tim, I love you...' Then what,
Tim?"

   "Then I have a very delicate balance to walk, because I've already had
my heart ripped out by one woman."

   "Don't you hurt my Kim, boy.  She needs love.  Not to be used.  To be
LOVED.  I sound like I'm trying to convince you..." Jenny's face told me
volumes.

   "No, Jen," I said.  "I was teetering on the edge.  I fear I may have
just been pushed over."

   "Good.  Be good to her.  I know where you live."

   "Yeah, okay.  Can Laci be the best man at our wedding?"

   "Oh, shit, Tim!  Wait'll I tell her you said that." Jenny left.  I
walked back to my recliner.  Sat.  I hadn't felt anything like that since I
walked off the plane after Iraq.

   The doorbell rang again.  I opened it, knowing that this one was Kim. 
It was.  "Okay, babe, what do YOU have in mind today?"

   "D'ya have a problem with a ride around the countryside.  A park maybe.
Pretty day.  Nature and all that?" She looked at me, those blue eyes
expectant above the freckles punctuating her cheeks.

   I couldn't help but smile.  "A brilliant idea.  Let me grab some stuff."

   "Uh, what kind of stuff?" She eyed me.

   "Babe!" I said.  "New car.  Nothing in it.  We need to have a FEW
things. Tools and such.  AND, with the prospect of sitting in a park
somewhere, perhaps a blanket to protect tender heinies from the immediate
contact with nature..."

   Giggle.  "You ARE an engineer."

   "Yeah.  Let's see... I walked up the hall and retrieved an old blanket.
"Here's a blanket that'll work.  We can get the trouble bag out of the
truck.  I'll but the stuff to equip another one this week.  Let's go,
punkin..."

   "Punkin?" she squealed.  "is that a good thing?"

   "Everybody loves punkins, babe.  Even forty year old engineers."

   Hands wrapped around my biceps as we walked out.  When I got back from
the truck with the trouble bag, Kim was sitting in the driver seat,
smiling. "You don't mind if I drive, do you?"

   "To the gas station," I said.  "I have a voucher from the dealer for a
tank of gas.  And then I drive."

   "Oooo-kay..." she feigned a pout.  "I never have any fun..."

   "Little girl, your life is ALL fun right now.  Wait'll you get into
college..."

   And off we went.  At the gas station, I filled us up, then we drove off
with me in the driver seat.  She reached over the console and took my hand.
At the stoplight I looked at her face.  That perfect, loving face. 
"Loving?"

   "Uh, Tim..." Little voice.  "you don't mind talking to me, do you?"

   "Nope, Kim, you're the easiest person in the world to talk to.  These
last two days have been an absolute blast."

   "With me?"

   "With you.  I wish I was eighteen again.  You'd be on my list for sure."

   Her expression got a bit grim.  "But since I'm sixteen, and you're
forty, I'm a non-person..." her eyes lost the gleam.

   I sucked in a sharp breath as the light changed.  "Not exactly, Kim. 
Twenty-four years is a lot of age difference.  But there are things that I
found out about you in the last two days that make you so much... but
twenty-four years..."

   Kim took control.  "Tim Duncan.  I am an honors student in high school.
I have a 4.0 average in math, and that includes trig and calculus.  I think
I can tell you the difference between sixteen and forty-one.  It's
twenty-five.  And I could've been a NUN for all I cared about boys in high
school.  The smart ones.  The cool ones.  The nerds.  The geeks.  The
jocks. I didn't care.  I even dated.  A few times.  D'you know what it's
like being a female and going out with a guy and you want to talk about
things like the space station or current events and you find out that what
your chosen partner for the evening has in mind is a little exploration of
your body?  Or "babe, I know where there's a party, and they got beer an'
weed..."?  And that's what passes for MY social life?  I even went on a
weekend with a church group.  Separate buses for the boys and the girls. 
And you should've heard the stories the girls were tellin' each other.  A
church group!  And **I** was the ONLY virgin in the bunch."

   I listened, driving.

   "And so here I am, living with my lesbian aunt, the one person in my
life who treats me like family, and I've got most of the teachers in school
looking upon me favorably, and life is just a little bit better, and the
YOU walk into my life.  It's like somebody whanged me in the head with a
cast iron skillet."

   She crossed her arms.  Her bottom lip was stuck out.  Not pouting. 
Determined.  She continued.  "It's like "Blam!" and a little voice said,
"Kimberly, now that we have your undivided attention, that guy over there,
HE'S the ONE.", and I am wondering what exactly that takes..."

   "What what takes?" I asked.

   "Getting it through your terribly intelligent but apparently clueless
skull."

   "I think you're doing a pretty good job of it right now."

   The smile came back.  A little, anyway.

   "Okay," I said.  "My turn."

   The smile waned.  "I'm listening."

   And a voice in my head, Jenny's saying "Don't you hurt my Kim." With
that in mind, I asked, "You're in advanced placement classes, right?"

   "Yes," she said, cautiously.

   "Then you know about terms like forever and infinity and stuff like
that."

   A cautious nod.

   "Well, let me tell you, Miss Kimberly Elkins, I once loved a woman and
stood in front of friends and family and declared that love, forever, just
like she did.  'Forever' didn't mean the same to her that it did to me. 
That liked to have killed me.  For real.  Had it not been for some of the
friends and family, I would not have made it.  As it was, I did.  And when
I tried to replace what was missing, I was treated very shabbily, used, by
women who wanted something when they offered little in return." I heaved in
a breath.  "So, Miss Kimberly, what does LOVE mean to you?  And I KNOW you
know what forever is."

   Serious-faced Kim looked at me.  "Don't you think that didn't cross my
mind?  When I graduate from college, I will be twenty and you will be
forty-five.  Under present day actuarial figures (WHAT???  I was playing
with a sixteen year old girl who knew "actuarial"?), you're pretty much
assured, being in good health, of living until you're eighty, and a bit
more.  Using that math that you accuse me of knowing, I think we will have
forty good years together.  Now, Mister Engineer, wouldn't you rather have
forty good years with the person you love than forty years without them?  I
thought real love wasn't about physical things like looks... and age."

   I couldn't help the smile.  "Is this the way that it's always going to
be?"

   "Is WHAT the way?"

   "You being right all the time."

   "Always?" she beamed.

   "You're not the only one who can get struck by lightning.  Or a cast
iron skillet."

   Her eyes brightened.  "So do you..."

   "Love you?  Yes, Kimberly Elkins.  I love you."

   "I love you too, Tim," the words rushed out.  She pulled my hand to her
lips and kissed it.

   "Now what, little love?" I asked.

   "We had a day planned, didn't we?' She smiled.  "Let's do it."

   "So it shall be," I said.  Oh, there was still turmoil in my head.  But
there was a big spot of thought that was settled.  And very happy.  Looking
at a smile I would come to know and savor, apparently so was Kim.  My Kim.

   We did drive through the countryside, autumn in the Deep South being
different than up north, and a riverside park provided us a place to spread
that blanket out.

   I did the spreading.  Kim knelt in the middle of it, and for the first
time, I could really LOOK at her without feelings of guilt or worry that
she'd see me looking longer than was acceptable.  Her face turned toward
me. A zephyr blew a wisp of hair across her face and she shook it back in
place with a toss of her head, leaving her bangs in delicious disarray. 
Her blue eyes.  The slight smile on her lips.  Trusting.  She extended her
hand.

   "Here.  Beside me." She said it with serious tone.  I complied.

   She got close to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.  The little kiss
last night?  Today's was better.  Softer, tentative, yet.  She sighed.  And
kissed, we kissed again.  I barely parted my lips and brushed my tongue
across her lips.  Her lips parted and the tip of her tongue met mine.  For
the first time.  Her lips pressed harder and her tongue explored.  Finally
we broke, with us sighing in duet.

   "Tim," she said, "I hope I don't disappoint you, but that was my first
real kiss.  With a grown-up guy.  For real.  Not little kids."

   "It was the absolute most wonderful kiss I have ever had, Kim."

   "No, you don't have to say that, Tim.  I know you've been with other
women.  More experienced and all that."

   "No, baby, YOU need to understand.  You kissed because YOU wanted to
kiss ME, not because you were just with somebody and you were expected to
kiss.  And I didn't think that there was a snowball's chance in hell that
I'd ever get a kiss like that again in my life.  No, Kimberly, your kiss is
my rebirth."

   She pushed me gently back onto the blanket and smothered me with little
kisses.  And I smothered back.  She had her hand on my chest, my neck, her
leg insinuated between mine, and I felt stirrings... Stirrings, hell, I was
as hard as a rock.

   Our blanket, though... beautiful fall afternoon in a public park... we
were already on the edge as far as public display of affection.  I caressed
her face, feeling the velvet skin.  She pressed her cheek against my hand,
her smile alluring yet demure.

   "Tim," she said, "it's not just kissing.  I've never... nothing.  Never
touched a guy... never been touched.  I've read.  And TV and movies and
stuff.  And listened to other people talkin'."

   "Don't worry, baby," I said.  "You're in control.  We do what you want,
when you want.  If something makes you nervous, or whatever, you say stop
and we'll stop.  I'm not in heat.  I am just loving my amazing partner."

   Another kiss.  A hot kiss.  "Okay.  Let's pick up our blanket and go
back.  We can eat an early dinner."

   "Okay, love," I said.  We stood and I folded the blanket and with it
under one arm, and with her on the other, we returned to the SUV.

   The drive back to town was enriched as we talked about things like her
plans for further education, ("I'm sixteen.  I'm not SURE what I want to
do. Major?  I am just not sure.") classes, (I help the teachers in calculus
class and I help out in algebra instead of doing study hall) and reading
(speculative science fiction.) and I got the feeling with each mile behind
us that this was not just an unusual young girl, but a UNIQUE young girl.

   "So you were in the army?" she asked.

   "Yeah.  ROTC paid for some of my college.  I had to serve four years
when I finished."

   "What'd you do in the army?" she asked.

   "I was a lieutenant in the combat engineers.  Helped people cross
ditches and blew up things."

   "Uh... Ohhhhh!"

   "Thousands of people in the army, Kim.  I was just one of `em."

   "And you used to run around the country building things?"

   "Yes, baby.  It's one way an engineer can earn a living.  If you're good
at it, people will come looking for you with good money in their hands. 
But living on the road gets old after a while.  So I got a job at the plant
across the river.  And then I rented an apartment..."

   Giggle.  "That's almost as good as 'Once upon a time', Tim" she said. 
Apparently I wasn't going to be given use of my right hand, because she was
holding it for all she was worth.

   Easing back into town, she said, "Uh.  Tim, can we just do a hamburger
for supper?"

   "Sure," I said.  "Whatever you want."

   "A burger.  And then home." And that sounded pretty definitive.

   Home.  A two bedroom apartment.  The abode of a single guy, forty, well,
forty-one, actually, who when he signed the lease had a pretty solid plan
for a life a semi-solitude.  And that guy, me, was walking in the front
door with a sixteen-year old girl holding his hand.

   If I was your typical lecher, I guess I'd have been thinking I'd hit the
jackpot, but that wasn't me.  I was really more scared and nervous than I'd
ever been in my life.  My long-departed wife and I, neither one of us had
been virgins, innocent, when we met and merged and eventually married.  My
own virginity had disappeared at seventeen in one of those blurs of a
little purloined alcohol and a few friends including the proverbial
"experienced" girl to whom I was just another interesting face and
different dick for the evening.

   And here I was with this complex set of characteristics that was Kim. 
And she'd told me she was a virgin, and her aunt had told me that she was
inexperienced with dating, much less being in love, and I had no idea as to
how this was all supposed to work.

   I'm an engineer.  Materials and forces all follow established laws.  I
can take a piece of copper and from a few measurements I can determine how
much electricity will pass through it before it gets too hot, and how much
more before it will fail.  But this wasn't a material, this was Kim, and on
the third day since we'd met, the last thing I wanted was to hurt her in
any way.

   She'd said "love" and I wanted to be her source of love and happiness
and good feelings and laughter.  That quirky smile of hers?  I wanted that
to be MY smile.  Her laughter?  I wanted it to be MINE.  Those clear blue
eyes?  I wanted to wake and see them as the first image in my day.  When
she grinned and the corners of her eyes crinkled, I wanted that to be mine.
So I was scared as I pushed the key into the lock.  I let her into the door
ahead of me and shut it behind me.

   She reached around and turned the deadbolt.  Then she pushed ME back
against the door and I was glad for her height because I just tilted my
face down for my lips to meet hers and her arms wrapped me and all I could
do was reciprocate, my right hand on her shoulder and my left on her waist,
and she insinuated her body against me.

   "Tim," she sighed, her lips inches from mine, "I don't know if this is
gonna work."

   Horror coursed through my veins.

   And she grinned, "I mean, we're "Tim `n' Kim." That's just too contrived
for me to imagine.  I don't know if I can stand it..." It was an evil grin.

   "I'm going to the courthouse tomorrow and change my name to Beauregard,
you little beast.  Or we change yours to Heloise."

   Smirk.  Giggle.  "Nah.  Tim `n' Kim sounds okay." Another kiss.  Twinkly
eyes.  And a grin.  "Babe, your face gives you away.  Remind me never to
let you play poker with me an' Aunt Jenny and Laci.  They'll clean you
out."

   "You took advantage, babe!  Here I was, all caught up in the moment,
tenderly kissing the love of my live and she pulls horrid tricks on me."

   Another kiss.  "Does that make it better, babe?" she asked.

   "It may take several." I said, over-acting, to her delight.

   "Let's see if I know how to fix it, then." She smiled.  "There's
something you do that I want to see you do today."

   "What?" My mind was running fast through a stack of possibilities and
none of them were coming up as likely.

   "Yesterday you sat in your recliner while we were talking.  Go sit!"

   That one hadn't even been on the list.  I sat and tilted back.

   "I hope that thing can hold both of us," she giggled, sitting on the arm
and then sliding back into my lap.

   What do you think I'd do?  I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her.

   She cooed in my ear, "I wanted to just jump in your lap yesterday."

   "You'd've given me a heart attack, princess."

   Giggle.  "I know.  But I thought about it.  Wanted to."

   I said, "But, babe, you'd just met me the day before."

   "Yeah," she said.  "I know.  My head was still ringing from that
skillet. And helping you Saturday, putting your stuff tougher,
straightening up stuff, every time I... It was like turning over a rock,
and there's a gold coin.  And another rock, and another coin.  And another
rock..."

   Conversation was punctuated with kisses.  My hands caressed her back and
shoulders and I ran my fingers through that sassy brown hair and let my
fingertips tickle the back of her neck.  She purred.  "Mmmmm, gosh, Tim, I
feel like I'm SUPPOSED to be here."

   "You are, sweetness." Her shirt had ridden up a little, exposing her
waist above her shorts.  And my hand touched velvet, warm skin.  "You feel
good to me, too." And she was caressing my face with one hand as we kissed,
the other cradling my head.

   Another purr.  "mmmmm... I knew when you touched me it would feel like
this..." Our lips met and she purred as we kissed, her tongue touching,
exploring my own.

   And I had a problem.  Not a particularly BIG problem, just a "middle of
the Gaussian distribution" six inches, but those six inches wanted to be
straight, and they weren't.  I kept trying to push the discomfort out of my
mind, but five feet eight inches and a hundred and forty pounds of
sixteen-year old curled in my lap kissing me was making sure that the
problem wouldn't go away.  I couldn't stand it any longer.  Finally, I
said, "Babe, I hate to ask, but could you get up for a second..."

   She started to maneuver off my lap.  "I knew it.  I'm too big..."

   "Oh, god, no, sweetie... I need to move."

   Her eyes saw the part that needed moving and they widened perceptibly.
"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, baby," she said.  "I told you, I don't know ANYTHING.
I wasn't thinking..."

   "Neither was it," I said.  "It just reacts."

   "That's not an 'it', that's a 'he'," she said.  "And I... Tim, I've
never kissed a guy, much less sat on his lap like we're doing... I'm
sorry."

   "Don't be sorry," I said, standing.  I turned away and adjusted it so it
was pointed in a direction that made it happier, and the activity and the
change in conversation and the absence of the soft roundness of Kim's
bottom in my lap, well, it lost a lot of urgency.  Still, I left it pointed
up, semi-hard, and I sat back down.

   Kim's eyes.  A little smile.  "I did that..."

   "Yes, undeniably, you did that.  'That' doesn't do that by itself." I
said.

   "Is it okay?  Can I?"

   I held my arms out for her to resume her place on my lap.

   "I'll be careful," she said, returning to my arms.

   "That has nothing to do with you being careful, cutie.  It is almost a
reflex, a reaction to a beautiful, happy female in my arms, and you are the
most beautiful, and I hope, very happy."

   Kiss.  Long kiss.  And a sigh.  "Very happy."

   "Good," I said.  "I am too."

   She looked into my eyes.  "I think you're blind, though."

   "Blind?  Not me... why?"

   "You keep saying I'm beautiful."

   "Little one," I said, leaning forward to kiss her on the end of her
slightly upturned nose, "you are beautiful.  You're tall,
well-proportioned, you have beautiful eyes, a smile that would melt stones,
that beautiful head of hair, a constellation of freckles that demand to be
respected, lips to die for... beauty that requires no artificial
enhancement.  Yes, I think you're beautiful.  And I love you.  But I
thought you were beautiful when I saw you standing on the sidewalk Friday
with your arms crossed."

   "Arms crossed... I don't... I'm not... my titties aren't big.  Guys like
big ones."

   "Some guys do.  I... wait, remember who said that real love wasn't about
physical things like looks?"

   "Yeah, but..." she stuttered.

   "No buts.  But since you brought the subject up, I think you're
absolutely perfect.  In every way.  Nothing I'd change, even if I could."

   "Are you sure?"

   I kissed her as an answer.  I felt her hand on my chest, touching,
exploring, then moving up to caress my neck.

   "Babe, your shirt..." her forehead was touching mine, our eyes locked.

   "My shirt?" I whispered.

   "Take it off.  It's not such a big deal for guys..."

   How innocent my Kim was.  Yes, it was no big deal, if we were talking
about swimming or lounging around the pool.  We'd done that.  She knew what
my chest looked like, and she knew that I wasn't smooth-chested.  But she
asked.  And sat back to clear me to pull my shirt up over my head.  The
hand that was simply soothing and arousing in a dreamy way a minute before
was like lightning when she touched my bare chest.  It was my turn to purr.
"mmmmm," I moaned softly.

   "You like this, baby?" she asked.

   "Your touch... it's like cool fire... it's been so long since I was
touched... and you touch me, and it's like I was NEVER touched before..."

   She leaned forward to put her lips against mine, her hand exploring my
chest.  She covered my breast with her hand and gripped, squeezed, then
released, her fingers dragging to land her fingertips on my nipple.  I
shuddered.

   "You like that, hmmmm?"

   `Yesssss," I hissed.

   "If I keep doing stuff like this... I'm not being fair, am I?"

   "Fair has nothing to do with anything.  Your touch is electric, Kim."

   "Babe, I love you.  You have to KNOW I do...."

   "And?" I asked.

   "And, well, I'm... Tim, you're going to be my first, my only.  But it's
not going to be tonight."

   "Babe, I don't care.  I'm not trying to get in your pants.  I want in
your heart."

   "You're in there, babe.  Timothy Duncan, you ARE there." Kiss.

   I said, "I want to be in YOUR head."

   "There,too." Another kiss.  And a sigh, a little exasperated.  "But
you've fallen in love with a girl who's having a stupid period."

   "All things in due time, dearest," I said, kissing her with little
kisses across her cheeks and nose.  "You are my precious angel, and you get
to say if, or when..."

   "You haven't tried..." she said.

   "I want you, baby.  What red-blooded man wouldn't.  But I want you
because you want me, not because I sweet-talked you or put a guilt trip on
you or got you drunk or high or whatever.  And kissing you, caressing you,
having you in my arms, you've brought things back to life that have been
dead for years."

   She took my hand and pressed its palm against her breast.  I felt firm
sweet flesh.

   "These are yours, too, babe.  I... touch me." She pulled her shirt off,
then started to unfasten her bra.

   "No, let me," I said.  She eased forward into my arms and I unhooked two
hooks.  She shrugged it off and dropped it beside the chair, sitting back.

   I saw perfect "B" cups.  Pink areoles, less than an inch in diameter. 
Nipples were perked up like pink pencil erasers.  I touched, letting my
fingers savor the feeling of this young girl's beauty.  My fingers touched
her nipples and she shuddered.  Then smiled.  "I did that to you?  No
wonder you jumped."

   "You're beautiful.  These are perfection." I bent forward as she looked,
almost in disbelief.  My lips closed over her left nipple.  Her hands went
to my head.  The thought crossed my mind that perhaps this was further than
she was willing to go, but that thought went away as her hands pulled me
into her chest.  And when I used my tongue...

   "Mmmmnnnnnnnhhhhhhh, oh, Tim!  Ohhhhhh... I... Ohhhhhhh" and she did
pull my head back, replacing her nipple with her mouth.

   "Babe..." she said, breaking the kiss.  "I want you.  But not
tonight..."

   "I want you too.  And we better slow down..."

   "Oh, god, I don't want to..." she sighed heavily.  "Damn period.  Baby,
I... I didn't mean, to, you know... tease you..."

   I sighed.  I was more erect than I can ever remember.  And she kissed me
and it was okay.

   "Can we just go this far?" she asked.  Her eyes were honest.

   "As far as you want to go," I said.  As I said it, I ran my hands across
her bare back, my fingers savoring the feel of her smooth skin, healthy,
soft, and her reactions were purrs as she lay her head on my shoulder,
melting into me.

   Her hand curved up to let her run her fingers through my short hair,
toying with it as we breathed in unison.  Then her fingers stiffened and
she turned my head and her face rose to kiss me.

   "You touch me and make me feel loved," she said.

   "That's because I love you," I said, pushing my lips through the soft
sleekness of her hair.

   "You know, even though I'm having a stupid period, we could, uh, take
our pants off, she said.  "Get us a little closer together."

   I mulled this thought over for about a second and a half.  "I could feel
those pretty legs against mine," I said.

   She reacted by standing up and unfastening her jeans, all the while
staring at me.  The zipper came down and she spread them and eased them
down past her hips, revealing pink hip-hugger panties.  God, I wanted
her...

   A sexy wiggle and those jeans collected at her ankles and she stepped
out.  "Your turn," she smiled.

   I stood and she took my place sitting in my recliner, watching.  I
unbuckled my belt and popped the button on my own jeans, then unzipped.  I
hooked my thumbs in the waistband.  "Last chance before they go down,
babe," I said.

   "Oh, Tim, I'm sitting here in my panties in your living room." She stuck
her tongue out at me.

   I slid my jeans down and stepped out of them, my own briefs tented out
from a tremendous erection.  Yes, they were briefs, but at least they
weren't white.  Royal blue.

   "Come closer," she said.

   My mind ran through several possible results of obeying, and all of them
were good.  I stepped up to stand in front of her.  She looked up at me. 
Her hands reached out and touched my chest, her fingers curling in the hair
there.  Her fingers straightened and she drew in a breath.  I did, too...
Oxygenation.  I might just need it.  Her hands slid down my chest onto my
stomach.

   "You're my guy now, aren't you, Tim?" she asked, her cool blue eyes
connecting with mine.  "Mine.  Like in happily ever after?"

   "Like in forever.  And you and I will work out the "happy" together."

   Her hands slid down until the heels of her palms were resting on the
elastic band of my briefs.

   Oxygen!  My brain needed it!  I breathed again.  Her hands traveled away
from my belly around my waist and gently pulled me closer.  I eased
forward. The tent in my briefs was mere inches from her mouth and I could
feel her breath, even through the cloth.  Her hands slid further back and
she slid them down, cupping my ass.  My knees were quivering as her fingers
touched me through the fabric.  She let them explore my butt.  I've never
had a woman actually explore my ass, but it was being done now as our eyes
stayed connected.

   Her tongue licked her slightly open lips as her thumbs hooked into the
elastic waistband on either side of my spine and pulled down.  I felt the
air hit bare skin on my butt.  This was the last chance I'd have.  I put my
hands on the sides of that pretty face and I squatted in front of her and
kissed her.

   "Baby, are you sure?  I don't do this for fun."

   "I love you, Tim," she said.  "Let me... Stand up."

   I resumed standing.  She dragged my briefs down under the cheeks of my
ass, then her fingers followed the elastic around to the front.  My hard
prod was preventing the briefs from sliding down easily.  Her fingers
tugged the waistband away from my belly and then down, freeing my dick, its
circumcised head purplish and exuding a tiny wetness of lubricant.

   Her eyes left mine.  They were fixed on my throbbing hardness.  She
paused for a second and then finished pulling my briefs down past my
thighs. They feel around my ankles.  I didn't dare move for fear of
breaking a fragile moment.  Her eyes turned back up to my face.  "I... Tim,
I've never... never seen a guy's... when I wanted to LOOK.  And touch... "

   "Oh, my baby, Kim..." I got ready for my knees to give up completely
because I saw her fingers start towards my erection.  The first touch has
less physical impact than a butterfly landing on a rose, but lightning
coursed through me.

   She curled her fingers around it, being drawn by her natural curiosity.
A tentative squeeze gave me yet another chance to overcome collapse.  Her
hand loosened and she moved it and discovered the outer skin sliding over
the hard shaft beneath it.  And then her other hand joined the first, the
fingertips of that hand tracing, testing the purple helmet throbbing before
her.  She noticed my shudder this time.

   "Are you okay, babe?" she asked, her eyes reading my face.

   "Uh-huh," I managed to utter.

   "Would it be easier if you... we got in bed?" Her eyes twinkled.  "Then
I won't worry about you shaking every time I touch you."

   I nodded and she popped up out of the chair, herself nude except for
those pink panties, her proud young breasts defying gravity in their sassy
swell.  She took me by the hand and led me towards the bed.  She turned
down the covers and knelt in the middle, patting the clean sheets in front
of her.  "Lay down," she commanded.

   I complied.  She crawled over me, her breasts pressing into my chest,
her pink hard nipples punctuating the feelings surrounding a passionate
kiss.  Those long legs spread to the outside of my own and I felt her
panty-clad mons rub a path over my dick.  I moaned.  She moaned, too,
grinding that soft mound into me.

   "It's gonna be good for us, babe," she said.  "It is."

   I couldn't do much more than groan.  She rolled sideways off me.

   "I can't believe it's so hard, babe.  When I do this..." her hand
stroked gently over the head and down the length of the shaft, "Does it
feel good?  I'm... I don't KNOW.  I've heard, but I never..."

   "It feels wonderful, baby," I said.  "You've got me so excited..."

   "Like in orgasm, like they told us about in sex ed?"

   "Like that, babe.  If you do that much longer, it's gonna squirt all
over..."

   The curiosity on her face mixed with mischief.  Kim was making me VERY
happy and this was exciting to her.  "This?" she asked, her hand playing
over my dick.

   She was obviously not experienced, but my joy of sharing in her
discovery had me aroused far past anything I'd ever experienced before. 
"Oh, yeah.  Just a light grip and slide the skin up and down."

   And her fingers of her other hand found my balls, and tickled and I lost
it.  "Unnghhh!" I grunted as the first spurt leapt from my dick, launched
to parts unknown.

   "Eek!  Now what?" she squealed.

   I took her hand with mine and pressed her fingers around me and milked
in time to augment the second surge which landed over my shoulder on the
sheets.  The third and fourth ended up on my chest and belly and then
subsequent, at least seven, surged out and over our hands together.  I
collapsed back onto the pillow.

   "Wow!  Is it always like that?" she giggled.

   "No, little one, it's NEVER been like that.  You move me to new
heights."