Chapter 3: Sensuality reflected

Afterwards, she led the pledge class in serenading the actives during Sunday dinner. They could have sounded better, but nobody complained. The meeting dealt with two routine matters, and she got to study most of the afternoon and evening. She would, at least, be prepared for Monday.

Monday night, the pledges were kept in the study room after dinner. Laura had persuaded Natalie that this would maintain discipline while having them likelier to pass their subjects. She sat with them doing her own study. That earned her a little credit in the unwritten-but-real “dealing with pledges” account each active kept in her head. It also caught her nearly up on schoolwork. Tuesday, she took a break from schoolwork to make a list for Andy.

As long as Marilyn shares the apartment with Andy part of the time, Andy will follow these rules in the apartment all the time: Every meal is eaten off plates. The plates are washed rather than used for another meal.

So is any silverware used washed after use.

Lunch and dinner each require a vegetable and a salad.

Salads are placed on a separate plate.

Main dishes are heated in the pan -- or cooked some other way -- and served in a serving dish.

You sit at the table to eat any meal in the apartment.

She thought that covered it. If not, it would be an improvement. She really didn’t want Prince Albert; it’s just that she didn’t want Conan the Barbarian, either.

She went back to her schoolwork. On a later break, she typed the list up. Then she folded it and put it in the envelope with her Pill dispenser. One thing she’d never figured out how to move into Andy’s was the Pill dispenser. It sat in her dresser drawer six mornings a week, but she had it in her purse from Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. She was at Andy’s for most of that time, but she did carry her purse to church. She could just imagine dropping the purse and the dispenser falling out. Well, she’d never spilled the contents of this purse, and she’d had it for years. Spilling it in church was extremely unlikely, but she kept the dispenser in the envelope when it was in her purse, nevertheless. She’d be sure to notice the list Sunday morning if not before.

She took one book with her Saturday, but she was determined to cook Andy a nice meal before cracking it. They shopped, as usual, on their way to the apartment. Before lovemaking, she put all the food away. It wouldn’t really be that long, but she didn’t want to be sloppy when about to ask Andy to be neat.

The meal was pork chops and home-fries, and she did it well. Andy’s praise was so dependable that she had stopped using it to judge, but her own taste buds told her that it was a success. Andy cleared and took the dishes to the sink. She got her list from her purse.

“Remember when I said I might have a list of things I’d ask from you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, here’s the list.” She handed it to him.

“Okay.” He read the list. “Wash dishes after every meal?”

“No. I tried to be careful to not say that. You rinse them off and leave them in the sink. Every day, maybe every other day for a single person, you wash them. Leaving the dishes to pile up in the sink until you run out of dishes is considered slovenly, but, with the number of dishes you have, it wouldn’t be all that slovenly.”

“Okay.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll try to keep all these rules.”

“No argument? No bargaining?”

“No. One of the things I want is to keep you happy. Two things, really. I want your happiness, and I want you to be happy to be around me. I figure that this will contribute to both, and it doesn’t look all that hard.” Some days, Andy was hard to figure. Well, she’d wanted to civilize him, and he was willing to act civilized to please her. If his statements sounded like the civilization would be skin deep, he was being honest.

They got out the books and each of them studied. It had been more fun when they had courses together, but this night would end better than those sessions had.

And, between Saturday night studying across from Andy and Sunday evening studying in the sorority, she got her current work caught up. Monday, she started blocking out her Education paper.

That night, she got a call from Andy.

“Love you,” he started.

“Likewise.” There were plenty of ears that could hear her. It wasn’t as if she was afraid of saying that she loved him within hearing of her sisters. They knew where she spent Saturday nights, for God’s sake. It just seemed a weird way of starting a phone conversation.

“This Saturday is a home game. Are we going?” That wasn’t the best way to make an invitation, but he was being realistic about their relationship.

“Why Andy, I’d love to. Thank you very much.” There were still ears around her. Besides, maybe he’d take the hint. Then she got practical. “Give rides to a few others?”

“Sure.” They talked for a few more minutes although they had no other business. There was a rule about tying up the phone, though.

“Love you,” she ended the conversation, “but I’ve got to run.”

“Love you, too.” She planned out the Saturday. Making out in the sight of thousands had been fun, but it would be childish when they’d end the day in bed; she’d wear a bra and sit next to him. Studying might be a good idea; she’d bring her Teaching English book.

Taking three pledges to the game had an odd feel to it. She was not only a couple with Andy, they were like parents to three teenagers. She’d skipped the wedding and the honeymoon. Well, she’d skipped toilet training, too, and maybe they’d be having the honeymoon that night.

And, after Andy drove the girls back to the house, they did have their honeymoon. Andy had bought a full-length mirror and mounted it on the closet door. The apartment being warm for once, he brought her to that mirror when they’d stripped each other.

“Look how beautiful you are.” She wasn’t beautiful, but he petted and kissed and stroked her until she felt beautiful. Watching his hands stroke her was even sexier than feeling them in the dark car had been. She saw her nipples harden; she saw herself blush at what his hands were doing and what her eyes were seeing. She’d seen her mound in the mirror many times. It was a neat, fur-covered patch with a tiny cleft just at the bottom. When his finger parted those lips, the fur parted, the cleft grew, and she could see the lips on each side of his finger.

As he stroked her there, standing began to require too much attention. she sank back against him, and he moved her to the right before supporting her. She could see his cock peeking out at the mirror at the side of her waist. As she felt herself tense, she could see it in the mirror.

He held her when the lightning struck. She wasn’t beautiful at all, scowling, her body wriggling in his arms. Her arms flailing. The sight, if not pretty, was arousing as hell.

Afterwards, when she sagged against his back, he carried her to bed and kissed her everywhere.

When she knew that lightning was about to strike a second time, she pulled him up until he entered her. As he filled her, she convulsed. She felt his firmness within her grip, and then his pulsing in her depths. Afterwards, he cuddled her and kissed the back of her head. That was delightful, but soon her conscience reminded her that she had studying to do.

After two hours of studying, she made dinner. When she went back to her book after dinner, he got out some library books. Andy wasn’t about to interfere with her studying, though she caught him looking at her sometimes. When she finally closed the book, though, he stopped his own studying. He was undressed by the time she came out of the bathroom, and he joined her in bed only minutes later.

The man was insatiable, wanting sex a second time that night and in the morning, too. She enjoyed the action, of course. Maybe she was hypocritical to blame him for wanting what she enjoyed, but he was the instigator each time. Sunday morning, they showered together. Then they went to church.

The next football game was during her period. She told him to let her off with the pledges. He called later that afternoon.

“You know, you could still sleep in my arms. We don’t have to have sex.”

“I don’t think so, Andy.” True, he would always take no for an answer, but she didn’t want to see his desire when she was opposed to satisfying it. And it wasn’t just seeing; lying in his arms without having sex meant his erection jutting against her ass all night.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She was at the phone in the hall with ears all around her.

“Shall I pick you up for church?”

“That would be nice. 10:45?” And he came by at 10:45.

That set their pattern for nearly the rest of the quarter. She was with him from after lunch Saturday to noon on Sunday three weeks out of four. The other sisters knew she wasn’t available then; what they would never have believed was that she got a fair amount of studying done in those evenings.

When Hell Week was in the offing, she warned him. She’d have to deal with the pledges during the Saturdays at either end. He didn’t argue or plead for her to dodge her responsibilities, but he did look awfully dejected. She didn’t even want him calling during that time.

He called on the last night before that ban went into effect. He sounded quite unhappy.

“I’m not leaving you; you know.”

“You have left me,” he replied. “Promise that you’ll come back.”

“I’ll come back.” He wasn’t being realistic. She loved him, loved how he could make her feel. He might not know her emotions, but her clothes were also in the closet.

Even though the actives outnumbered the pledges and often one or two sisters could deal with the entire pledge class, Hell Week was hard on the actives as well. They got through it, though, and the pledges did, too. Despite her study deficit, Marilyn took care of her sleep deficit first. After the chapter meeting Sunday, she slept until the supper hour. She called Andy after supper.

“Want to pick me up after class on Monday?” The weather had been nasty, and there was slush all over the sidewalks.

“When do you get out?”

“Five o’clock. It’s a late one. Clark Hall.” He was there. Being Andy, he was waiting at the door to walk her to the car when she came down the stairs.

“Mind stopping by the house for a few minutes?” she asked after they’d got in the car and shared a kiss. “I want to change over to tomorrow’s books. Then we’ll pick up the groceries.” She hadn’t done any studying for her Tuesday classes. He let her out in front, but he was waiting inside when she came back down with the right books. They had a brief kiss before she took the last two steps down.

“Would you consider a change of plans?” he asked as they were walking to the car. “This is something to celebrate. Would you be willing to go out to a restaurant?”

“Don’t you like my cooking?”

“Your cooking is delightful for me. Maybe it’s more work than celebration for you.” Spontaneous as he tried to make the invitation sound, Andy had scouted out the restaurant. The meal was lovely.

When they’d taken off their coats back at the apartment, they continued with their other clothes. It was chilly, and she got into bed immediately. He followed right after.

“Oh, Marilyn,” he said after the first kiss, “you did come back.” Then he kissed all over her face. He continued down her body to her thighs. After kissing between them until she was quite excited, he began licking between those lips. Lightning struck.

When she relaxed, he began kissing her thighs again. When he continued after her second climax, she grabbed his shoulders and tugged upwards.

“Oh love,” he said as he began to enter her. He stared into her eyes as he slowly, firmly, inexorably, filled her. He paused for a second buried in her to kiss her forehead. Then he said, “oh love,” again and began stroking in and out. As his strokes quickened, she matched him. Finally, he pressed deeply into her and throbbed. His climax brought on her third.

He was still looking into her eyes as she recovered. With him above her, pressed against her stomach, hugging her arms with his and with his legs hugged by hers, occupying her, she was finally warm.

When he got off, he lay on his side and pulled her back against him. He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head.

“You came back,” he murmured between kisses.

“Andy, I’ll always come back to you.” After all, she’d been deprived as long as he had. Her dresses were in the closet and her other clothes were in the dresser. She felt him go stiff. He didn’t let go, but the comfort was gone. What had she said?

“Always?” he said after a damned awkward pause. He hadn’t relaxed a bit.

“That wouldn’t be fair to you,” he said a while later. What had she said? She’d heard of guys being afraid of commitment, but that had been her commitment. It was what he’d asked of her. And what wouldn’t be fair? be fair to her? There was a bit more awkward silence before he spoke again.

“Look, do you ever think about after graduation?” No more than three times a minute. “You’re going to be a teacher, sure, but do you ever think whether there will be an us after graduation?” Good question. Two questions, really, and the important one was in the subordinate clause.

“Well, what do you think?” If he was going to freeze over a bit of commitment, he could damn-well express the commitment.

“There’s no question about me.” Well, there was a question in her mind about him, even though he was relaxing a tiny bit.

“If you can ask the question, you can answer it. That’s only fair.”

“I want as much of you as I can get,” he said, then paused. “As long as you let me.” Now, there was an interesting statement. What did it mean? But it didn’t sound like he was scared of commitment. Having said it, he even relaxed. She turned over, though it put her face almost against his.

“Is this a proposal?” If so, it was a damned awkward one. But whatever he was trying to say now, it was awkward.

“It’s not fair for me to propose when I can’t support you.” Well, she hadn’t decided what she would say to a proposal anyway. She wasn’t the sort of girl her mother wanted her to be, one who wouldn’t sleep with a man unless marriage were involved. She suspected that girls who wouldn’t sleep with a man until after marriage were before even mom’s generation. Was she a girl, though, who would sleep with a man and then refuse him marriage? Anyway, supporting her sounded more chauvinistic than Andy usually did.

“Well, I’m going to be a teacher, as you said. I’ll be able to support my own self.”

“Yeah, but only after graduation. We can’t get married if we can’t pay rent.” He had a point there. She might never be Andy’s dependent, but she was damn-well her parents’ dependent right now. She thought of a married couple as free-standing, maybe not as strongly as Andy did. “But do you mind if I think about it?” he asked Now that was a different question.