Chapter 7

Our second academic year started in earnest that week.

After running around three different buildings to lectures in three subjects during my first year, it was a real relief to me to only have one timetable, and one department to be in.

I made sure that I stashed all my textbooks and kit in my lockers in the Chemistry building. It made life a lot easier in the house without my junk piled up in a corner of our bedroom.

Studies started with a bang. Monday was a bit of a whirl, Tuesday not a lot better.

It was a damn sight easier for Malcolm and I because we'd already been up to the Department; some of our fellow students who had only just returned to Cardiff had one hell of a time catching up on all the bumph in their pigeon holes in between getting organised for work.

There was a lot of moaning from our fellow students about starting off the second year at such a pace! We stayed quiet and said nothing about having been back a week and having done much of our preparatory work already.

In a quiet period, while the others were still sorting out their glassware, I scribbled a short letter to Mum and Dad to say how glad I was that I had come back early and was ready for the start of term, and I also wrote a quick note to Jen to remind her that I loved her. I didn't admit to my fears about her, but did say that I had been thinking about her a lot.

Over supper on Tuesday, the girls also agreed that their studies had also picked up a gear or two from the first year, with much more being done in tutorials than in lectures, so that the students had no choice but to actively contribute and express their opinions. Julie said that this was quite a shock for some people, who had managed to remain virtually silent and unknown in the first year.

We still had our Wednesdays after midday designated as 'sports afternoons', in case we wanted to participate in organised activities. Prof was very keen that those who wanted to play rugby got plenty of opportunities!

Neither Malcolm nor I had ever been very sports-minded, so we took it in the form of an afternoon off. We'd never quite understood the attraction of getting thumped by somebody bigger and uglier than us, in the pouring rain, while covered in an itchy shirt and cold mud.

That first Wednesday, Julie and I had arranged to have lunch together in the Union salad bar, and then walked back home. We knew that Sian and Vee were planning to wander around the shops to see what was new, and pick up something for supper from the market while they were out.

As always when we were together, Julie as the legal tenant opened the street door with her key, just in case her landlady had popped in. We started on the two-and-a-half flights of stairs, and on the first landing we met Sarah and Monica just leaving their rooms, dressed in brand new tracksuits with the creases still in the fabric.

Julie exchanged a few words with them, and they told her that they had joined the Athletic Union at the Freshers Fair, and were now off to see what sporting activities were on offer. We wished them luck and carried on up the stairs.

We dropped our anoraks and bags off in our bedroom, and I asked Julie if she wanted a cup of tea, expecting her automatic 'yes'. Her actual response caught me by surprise.

"Normally, lover, I'd say yes so quickly that you wouldn't need to ask the question! But as my period starts this weekend, and the girls downstairs are going to be out for a while, just this once I'll miss out on the cuppa, in favour of a trip to the half landing bathroom and a reminder of how useful the radiator is!"

Well, I most certainly wasn't going to turn down an invitation like that! I took our dressing gowns off the hook on the back of the door and handed hers over, giving her a quick kiss before we rapidly stripped off our own clothes.

It felt very naughty sneaking down to the bathroom in the early afternoon of a weekday in our dressing gowns, even a little bit as if we were having a secret affair. Julie also seemed to recognise the furtive nature of our excursion, and we were both breathing a little faster than normal with excitement, by the time we were safely in the bathroom with the door locked behind us.

The bathroom was neat and tidy; the five girls had agreed between them that this would be an overflow bathroom available to both floors, if someone was already using the main bathroom. There were no pieces of female underwear drying over the bath, and if we hadn't brought our own bathtowels down with us, we would have been out of luck if we had needed one.

We were both naked under our dressing gowns. I moved closer to Julie and untied the bow on the cord that held her gown closed, running my hands up the sides of her body and caressing her back, before stroking the globes of her buttocks. Holding her against my pelvis (and a fully erect Gustav), I bent my back and kissed the side of her neck, nibbling her skin softly with my lips, as I had demonstrated to Jen only a fortnight earlier.

"Oh god, darling, I'm like putty in your hands when you do that! The sensations seem to go all the way through me!"

"Mmmmm, that's the whole idea, my darling!"

I released her, and moved my hands to her breasts, kneading them gently with my fingers and then rubbing her nipples with the balls of my thumbs. She gasped with excitement.

"Oh wow, darling, my juices are flowing already!"

I hadn't meant to get her that worked up quite so quickly, but there was no going back.

We separated for a moment and hurriedly took off our dressing gowns; it was a little chilly in the bathroom, but that wasn't going to be a problem once we got going.

Mind you, the lino floor was definitely cold, so I took the cotton bathmat from where it was draped over the side of the bath, unfolded it, and positioned it where our feet would be.

I placed a folded towel on top of the radiator to soften the cast iron, as we had back in June, and then held out my arms for Julie. She put her own arms around my neck, and then I lifted her up onto my chest, where she held herself by wrapping her legs around my waist.

I moved next to the radiator, and temporarily popped her bottom down on it, while we straightened up. She reached down to guide Gustav into her, and she rubbed his head along her labia to pick up some of her natural lubrication, purring with delight as the bundle of nerves around her vagina lips and clitoris picked up the sensation.

"Okay, darling, I'm ready!"

I slowly lowered her down against my chest, until Gustav was fully enclosed in her tight warm sheath. Her firm young breasts were pushed against my chest, her nipples erect, having scraped their way down against my skin. I bent my head down and lightly kissed the side of her neck, gently dragging my lips against her skin. She purred again with pleasure and anticipation.