Chapter 72: Exploration

January 2, 1989, Columbus, Ohio

Kris and I returned to the room after a forty-minute walk to give Housekeeping time to do their work.

"Time for examination and exploration!" Kris declared the moment I shut the door.

"Did you have a plan?" I asked.

"Eight times, right?" Kris asked impishly.

"Seven, because we already did it once! That said, it was a few hours ago, so maybe eight is possible."

"Then, for today, just ravish me however you want! Tomorrow will be my turn to do whatever I want to do! Eight times!"

"Remember," I replied with a goofy smile, "I said I'd managed, not that it was possible every day!"

"Then you'll just have to manage today and for the rest of the week! After that, I think things will be different."

"How so?" I asked.

"I think the physical part of our relationship will mostly be like last night."

"I'm curious, but why do you think that?"

"You yourself said that was your preferred way and made it clear you really like cuddling. You also made the point that had you not been committed to being a doctor, 'Monk Michael' was a distinct possibility. That totally fits your spirituality, and you were more relaxed at the monastery than at any other time since I first met you."

"All true," I replied. "But...

"But what, Mike?" Kris asked. "Let's also be practical about our life for the next two years and your training. You've repeatedly made the point about long shifts and how tired you'll be and how sometimes you'll come home and simply need to sleep. I'll also point out that you chose to bring our daughter on our honeymoon trip, which limits our options. That means this week is not how things will be, at least in the near term."

"Again, that's all true, but..."

"Mike," she said, interrupting me once again, "that wasn't a complaint, simply an observation. I think the best way to state how I feel about it is that I didn't get married to have sex, I have sex because I got married. Not in the sense of an obligation, but as an important part of the relationship, for bonding and closeness, or, as I said, to become 'one flesh'."

"May I say something?" I inquired.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," Kris said. "But you have a bad habit of immediately seeing the negative in everything rather than the positive."

"I guess I do, don't I?"

"You were, I suspect, going to say something self-deprecating or ask what you'd done wrong or if I didn't like sex or some other such nonsense. I wasn't criticizing you, Mike. I was simply trying to say that this week is not representative of what our life will be like."

"Guilty as ... strike that. An accurate analysis. I have one thing I'd like to say, if you'll allow me to say it."

"Mike, I'm not trying to silence you or make you think the same way I do, but to help you break a seriously bad habit. Think about the negativity you've expressed about your training and how you harped on it. To me, it felt as if you were trying to deter me from my chosen course of action. Yes, you needed to tell me about it, but it was the tone and tenor of how you said it. So, yes, of course, you can say your piece, but do it in a positive way, not a negative one."

"It's what I've always done," I replied.

"Which is why I said it's a seriously bad habit. Let me ask you a question before you say your piece, if I may."

"You may."

"How do you think it would affect our relationship if you come home from the hospital and only talk about the bad things that happened or the problems you see?"

"Negatively," I replied. "And that would not be good."

"Precisely. It's as much how you say a thing as it is what you say."

"Something which is true about practicing medicine, and what we call a 'bedside manner'."

"And I suspect, quite strongly, you are not negative with patients, even the ones who have little or no hope of recovery."

"I don't encounter too many of those whom I interact with in a meaningful way. In the ED, it's all about trying to save their life."

"OK, then their loved ones, if something terrible has happened."

"I totally understand your point, though it's hard to put a positive spin on 'your loved one has died'."

"That calls for compassion, which I am sure you demonstrate."

"To the best of my abilities, yes."

"You do know that a simple 'yes' would suffice, right? Would anyone you know think you didn't do anything to the best of your abilities or that you were cavalier about your training or your practice of medicine?"

"No."

"Or that they would think you were perfect?"

"No. I'll leave that to my daughter!"

Kris laughed, "Until she's around twelve or thirteen and likes a boy whom you do not like. Then you will no longer be perfect in her eyes!"

"The eternal struggle between parents and teens."

"So what was it you wanted to say?"

"A close friend, when she was fourteen, was dating a guy whose family planned to move across the country. They had been having sex for about a year, and it had always been like what we did last night and this morning. Then, when he told her he was going to move, they went completely crazy, doing everything they could think of, with no limits.

"Afterwards, she was convinced that's what led to them losing touch and not speaking for years. She became very promiscuous, and focused purely on physical pleasure, until she rediscovered what she called sublime sex, at which point she got in touch with the guy and they got back together after a decade apart."

"And you're concerned that what I suggested might cause some kind of problem?"

"I honestly don't know," I replied. "It was simply a cautionary tale."

"Please do not react in your usual way to this, but did you tell that story because you don't want to do what I asked?"

I shook my head, "No. It was just something that popped into my head based on what you said. I had a discussion similar to that with someone else, and concluded that lines had to be drawn and limits set, or we'd risk going 'too far'."

"I think I understand, though I think our circumstances are somewhat different. Well, unless it was in your marriage to Elizaveta."

There was, but it was directly related to Elizaveta's demand that we do 'everything' I'd done with Tasha, much to Elizaveta's regret after the fact. But I couldn't really say anything about that, and as I'd reminded myself repeatedly, I could not compare Kris and Elizaveta without running the risk of ruining my marriage to Kris.

"It wasn't," I replied, as it had been my discussion with Lara, which had come to mind.

"Is there something you don't want to do? Is that what concerns you?"

"Not really," I replied. "You know my preference."

"I want to point out something, and I don't mean it in a critical way, so please do not take it that way. You have experience and know what you prefer from," she smirked, "extensive research. Would you deny me the same opportunity? I mean, within our marriage, of course."

"No, I wouldn't."

"This week is about exploration, experimentation, and discovery. What we learn will be used in the future; it just won't be the norm."

"Would you answer a question with a promise I won't be upset by the answer?"

"Truth only, Mike. It's the only way this works."

"You've had some very intense conversations with Clarissa, haven't you?"

"I'd say that was obvious, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. And it doesn't bother me because I know she only has my best interest in mind."

"She had some excellent insights, as well as a few cautions."

"That I tend to obsess and I'm prone to bouts of depression, apart from what happened with Elizaveta?"

"Yes, though she made a point that your depression wasn't clinical and was most often expressed as negativity. The other point she made is that you have a tendency to allow the women in your life to control you, and that is not what I want. Not even close."

I chuckled, "Nearly twenty-six years of dealing with Russian women will do that to a guy! I maintain that's why the old men drink heavily!"

Kris laughed softly, "I don't disagree, but that's not my worldview, nor how I intend to behave, even though it might seem that way given this conversation. It's not about controlling you; it's about helping you become the man I need you to be, and who you need to be. And you'll help me become the woman you need me to be, and who I need to be. And we can do that without being controlling or demanding. We'll leave that to the Tsarina!"

"She can try," I chuckled, "but you know what happens when she demands 'more!'"

"Well, this week, if I demand 'more!' I expect to get it!" Kris declared impishly.

"May I suggest a minor modification to what you requested?"

"Yes, of course! It's a partnership!"

"Exactly. So rather than make it about me today and you tomorrow, let's simply begin and see where our hearts and bodies lead us."

"Agreed. And remember, Mike, inexperience does not equate to naïveté, and innocence does not equate to reluctance."

"I'd say that's obvious! Where do you want to begin?"

"With the thing you want most!" Kris said mirthfully.

"My medical license?" I asked with a smirk.

"I'll use my teeth if you aren't careful!" Kris threatened impishly.

"Done carefully, that can be very erotic!" I replied.

"Interesting," Kris observed. "That was one thing Chloé emphasized not to do."

"She's not wrong," I replied. "But pleasure and pain are sometimes closely associated. When properly performed, oral sex can be so pleasurable that it borders on the edge of painful because the glans has so many nerve endings. When the man has an orgasm, that's when the woman should use her tongue the most and suck the hardest, but that takes it right to the threshold of pain."

"I promise to be careful!" Kris declared. "Let's go to bed!"

"It doesn't have to be in bed," I replied.

Kris laughed, "Then get undressed and sit on the couch!"

"I should get a towel," I replied. "I'd hate for the maid to have to try to get a spot out!"

Kris laughed softly, and I went to the bathroom to get one of the large, white, fluffy towels, and when I returned, Kris was standing naked waiting for me. I spread the towel on the couch, quickly disrobed, and sat down. Kris knelt in front of me, looked up, and smirked.

"Bite it, like a sausage, yes?" Kris asked.

"I think that would make us both very sad and would lead to a very interesting urology consult in the ED at Ohio State!"

"Have you seen strange things?"

"Mostly I've only heard about them, but I did see someone who had failed to understand physiology and had a vibrator stuck in their rectum. I observed that one. The funniest, at least from my perspective, was the teenage couple who had 'lost' their condom. I had to remove it with a speculum and forceps."

"How did it happen?" Kris asked.

"He failed to withdraw while still erect and while grasping the condom. The bad news for them was that semen had leaked."

"What happened?"

"I removed it, as I said, and had to break the bad news to them about pregnancy risk. I don't know what happened after that because I referred them to the Free Clinic."

"You're permitted to do things like that procedure?"

"What a Fourth Year medical student is permitted to do is limited only by what the doctor supervising them feels comfortable with them doing. I've learned to do everything that doctors in the ED do regularly except insert nasogastric tubes, and if the opportunity arises in April or May, I'll learn to do that. But I think we're WAY off purpose here!"

Kris laughed softly, "Then be quiet and let me perform my exam!"

"I'm not the one who will have my mouth full!" I teased. "Ow!"

Kris had playfully nipped my glans, just enough to get the point across, but not enough to do damage.

"I will limit myself to sounds related to extreme pleasure," I promised with a silly smile.

Kris laughed softly, then lowered her head and planted several soft kisses on my glans, which was all it took to cause blood to quickly flow and my member to swell. I leaned back and watched Kris perform her experiment, exploring with her hands, lips, and tongue. She bathed my shaft with her tongue, then took my glans into her mouth and sucked gently and swirled her tongue while she slowly stroked me with her hand.

Kris began bobbing slowly, stopping every few bobs to swirl her tongue around my glans. Her free hand moved to my sack, and she squeezed gently as she bobbed, sucked, and stroked. She continued for a few minutes, then released me, rose up, and licked each of my nipples in turn, causing me to groan softly due to the intense pleasure that created.

Kris returned to stroking, bobbing, licking, and sucking, and a few minutes later I twitched, signaling my impending orgasm. Kris released me and once again rose up, this time licking each nipple, then giving each a gentle suck before once again taking my raging erection into her mouth. I was so close that it only took a few seconds before I groaned and cum spurted into Kris's mouth.

"Ungh!" I groaned when she sucked hard, lashed me with her tongue, gently squeezed my sack, and nipped me with her teeth just below my glans. She did the same thing after each spurt, creating intense pleasure, bordering on pain, and after the final spurt, she bobbed a few times, released me, climbed into my lap, straddling my hips, and French kissed me.

As we kissed, she grasped my shaft, rubbed it along her labia, and settled down onto me, completely engulfing me in her tight, warm confines. Kris began moving, alternating between grinding against me and sliding up and down my shaft. She didn't stop until she brought herself off, the spasms of her vaginal walls massaging my shaft, and making me wonder if I could have a second orgasm before I went soft.

"Keep moving," I requested.

Kris smiled, then French kissed me and began moving again. Although it was intensely pleasurable, I began to soften after a few minutes, but not before Kris had brought herself off a second time. I slipped from her, and she broke the kiss and rested her head on my shoulder.

"That was awesome," I said.

"Your turn!" Kris declared.

She moved from my lap, and we changed places, and I explored her body, starting at her neck, planting soft kisses all the way down to her feet before taking her nipples into my mouth in turn, then kissing my way down to her wispy patch of blonde pubic hair and inhaling deeply of her musky scent. I ran my tongue along her plump labia, getting my first taste before plunging my tongue into her, coating it with her juices.

Following what Kris had done, I closed my mouth around her clit, teasing it with my tongue, and every so often carefully nipping it with my teeth. Kris groaned in response, so I was sure I was achieving my goal of intense pleasure.

"Fingers!" she gasped.

I didn't need a second invitation, and carefully pushed a finger into her sopping wet pussy, and after moving it around, pressed a second finger in and began moving my hand along with my tongue. Kris put her hands on the back of my head and pulled my face into her vulva and, a few seconds later, groaned in pleasure as her pussy spasmed around my fingers.

I fingered her through her orgasm, then moved up to French kiss her. After a brief, but fierce, French kiss, I sucked each nipple before returning my attention to her pussy, licking, sucking, nipping, and fingering her to another orgasm, by which time I was hard once again. I lifted my head, rose up, positioned myself, and plunged my dick into Kris' pussy, fucking her with long, slow strokes.

"Harder," she requested, pulling her legs up, and spreading her knees as far apart as she could.

I was only too happy to oblige and increased the speed and force of my thrusts. What I'd noticed in our previous times was that Kris achieved orgasm by grinding against me, and the same basic thing was true when I was orally pleasuring her — it was my tongue on her clit that had brought her off. That wasn't surprising, given what I knew about female physiology, but it also meant she might not orgasm from what we were doing.

"Give me your hand," I said breathlessly.

I took her hand and put it between us, pressing her fingers against her clitoral hood. Kris immediately understood and began rubbing herself while I slid in and out of her. That worked perfectly, and she had two orgasms before I pushed completely into her, ground against her, and blasted cum into her spasming pussy. As soon as my orgasm passed, I moved down and latched onto her clit once more, pressed two fingers inside her, and brought her to another orgasm.

I stood up, helped Kris stand up, then sat down and encouraged her to sit in my lap to cuddle.

"What next?" I asked.

"It's your turn!" Kris declared. "I chose the first two!"

"Then I choose a bubble bath," I replied.

"That's not sex!" Kris protested.

"I disagree! You'll just have to join me in the tub and see what happens!"

We stood up, and Kris followed me to the bathroom, where I turned on the taps on the tub and adjusted the temperature to as warm as I felt we could stand. I checked the rack and chose lavender bubble bath, and poured some into the water stream. I put the bottle back on the rack and then helped Kris into the tub. I got in behind her, sat down, and had her sit in front of me. I put my arms around her, put one hand on her left breast, and the other between her legs.

"Still think it's not sex?" I asked, as I began massaging her clit and tweaking her nipple.

"That feels nice," Kris replied. "You're so gentle."

"With your knowledge and how comfortable you are with sex, I was surprised you didn't think of this."

"Nobody mentioned it!"

"No independent reading?" I asked.

Kris laughed softly, "No. Just Chloé and two other girls who chose to sleep with their boyfriends."

"Which one told you about using your teeth?"

"They all urged me to be careful; you said it could be erotic! Was it?"