"Oh, shit!" cursed Stella. The word processor program had just crashed and shut itself down. Like an idiot she'd been working on her dissertation for five hours straight and hadn't sit Control-S even once. And now she'd lost everything.
Tears started to prickle her eyes. As if it wasn't hard enough studying for an English degree whilst also trying to keep light and limber for the dance competition on Saturday, now she had to go and do something typically blonde like this.
She pondered what to do. What she really wanted was a chocolate milkshake, but that was so many calories...and dairy took so long to digest. It would only make practice harder. Sighing, she got up and went into the communal kitchen, deciding to make some green tea instead. It was a poor substitute, but the heat would be comforting and green tea was good for detoxing.
Tea bag, hot water, leave to brew -- a comforting routine. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that, when a soft voice said "Hi," she nearly dropped the kettle.
"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."
She turned and gave him a brief smile. "That's OK."
She really wasn't in the mood for Richard right now. It was rare that he ever emerged from his room, but when he did he always managed to make her feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that he checked her out -- Stella was very used to guys doing that. In fact, he seemed so indifferent to her that it was positively offensive. He was always polite enough to acknowledge her, but that was as far as it went. She realised now that this was probably the greatest number of words he'd ever spoken to her in one encounter.
"Don't worry about it," she said. Did he even realise how geeky he was? Standing there with his lanky figure, and his Mario Brothers T-shirt and his outgrown hair and his -- his weirdness. He even wore glasses, just to make him into even more of a stereotype.
He shrugged. "Bad day?" he asked.
Wow, he was making an effort today. "You could say that," she said.
"Anything I can do?"
Oh, go away, she thought, irritable suddenly. "Not unless you can rescue five hours' work from my computer," she said brusquely, and walked quickly out of the kitchen.
"Actually, I probably can," he said -- not desperately calling after her, but quietly, almost to himself rather than to her. In spite of herself, she stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him.
"Really?" she said.
"Really."
They looked at one another, Richard not making the offer and Stella not making the request, for some time. Richard was trying not to stare at her lustfully -- but it was difficult not to, which was why he usually went out of his way to avoid her. With her ash-blonde hair and her tiny but toned frame dressed in a floaty little summer dress, and the graceful way she moved, she was more like a fairy than a human girl -- and about as likely to be interested in him as she was to actually be one of the fey folk.
"I..." she began awkwardly. "I mean -- would you...would you give it a try?"
Actually be alone with her in her room? Richard could feel his heartbeat start to quicken. Licking his lips, which had suddenly gone very dry, he nodded. "OK."
He followed her into her room, wondering how many of the other guys on their floor would be jealous if they could see him. Stella was known as a bit of an ice maiden -- beautiful, but totally unapproachable. Apparently she'd never had as much as a date in all the time they'd been at university. Probably thinks she's too good for us mere mortals, he thought a little disdainfully. He didn't have much time for girls who thought they were God's gift to men.
He liked to think of himself as someone who had a little more depth than the average male -- someone who went for girls on the basis of their brains rather than their looks -- and this was usually true. He also tended to prefer them curvy. It made no sense at all. This was why his attraction to her troubled him so. It was as if he was starting to turn into the sort of guy who went for 'hot' chicks without caring about whether there was anything beneath the surface. Well, he thought, he'd fix her computer and get out of there as quickly as possible.
"So is there any saved version of the file?" he asked, sitting at the desk.
"Er...yes," she said, blushing. "I saved at the beginning, but after that -- I got so into what I was doing that I just, sort of...forgot."
He did not reply, but Stella thought she saw him roll his eyes, ever so slightly. Great, she thought -- now he thinks I'm a total bimbo. But hang on -- who cares what he thinks?
Nervous now, she stood up and pulled her left leg up until it was nearly at ninety degrees to the floor. Stretching always helped her relax. The move had been performed unselfconsciously and for her own benefit -- but the effect on Richard was electric. He knew it was a ridiculously predictable response, but seeing her flexibility in action was making him imagine how many other positions she could get into.
"I'm having a look at the auto save files," he said, struggling to keep his eyes on the screen and his voice even. "Hopefully I can get it back from there. Ah -- there's the most recent one." He clicked on the file and, to Stella's surprise and relief, the vast majority of the document reappeared on the screen.
"Oh, my God," she cried. "Thank you so much!"
Without thinking, she ran over and hugged him. Realising what she had done, she started to pull away -- but his arms were around her too. For the first time, she saw the hunger in his eyes -- and to her amazement, she felt her body start to respond to it. It had been so long since she'd last had any intimacy with a guy...her studies and her dancing took up pretty much all of her time and most of the time she didn't even think to miss it. But now, feeling the heat of his hands through her dress and the light tickling of his breath on the tops of her breasts, she wanted it so badly that she could barely think straight.
Wordlessly she moved the straps of her dress down over her shoulders, and then pulled the garment down so that she stood before him wearing nothing but pink cotton panties with ties at the sides. His eyes widened as he gazed at her slim but muscular body. Her breasts were so small he could probably get each one in his mouth in its entirety, and her nipples were such a pale pink that they barely stood out from the rest of the breast. He could hardly believe that she was presenting herself to him like this. Even though it was a very forward thing to do, still there was a kind of innocence about it too. Perhaps he had been wrong about her.
Taking the cue for his silence from hers, he gripped her waist, swivelling the chair so that she stood between his legs, and ever so slowly ran the tip of his tongue up her tummy, from the top of her panties all the way up over her breastbone, then to her collarbone and finally under her chin. She was so petite in height that he could do this without having to bend down very much. Her skin was taut yet smooth, and her skin tasted fresh and clean. She threw her head back with a little sigh of pleasure, eyes closed, enjoying the attention. Now he was undoing the ties on her panties and peeling them off, stroking all the way down her legs as he did so.
"Bring your leg up like that again," he whispered, trying not to sound like he was begging her to do it, but knowing that he would if he had to. Her whole body feeling like it was on fire with anticipation, she did so, holding onto the desk with her other hand for added support. He let out his breath as he took in her gorgeous little pink pussy, all splayed and vulnerable-looking and, he noted with satisfaction, already moist. Kneeling on the floor beside her, he trailed his tongue up the inside of her supporting leg, making her gasp and buckle slightly.
"Keep your balance," he told her, smiling to himself. The final destination drew nearer, inch by inch, until at last the tip on his nose was touching her pussy. He burrowed in between the juicy folds, his hungry tongue seeking out her clitoris. She moaned deeply as he started to lick her, slowly and gently at first, but this time she did not wobble. As his tongue lapped her harder and faster, he slipped a finger inside her and started to ease it in and out. Within five seconds of doing this he felt her muscles contract powerfully as she came, moaning in time with each pulse.
"Put your leg down," he whispered. Confused by how much she was enjoying being directed in this manner and yet longing to do his bidding so that she could experience more, she did so.
"Now put the other one up," he said.
Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"Don't think you can hold it, huh?" he challenged, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Or can't you handle another orgasm like that one?"
Oh, I see, thought Stella, the power play he was pulling on her igniting something in her mind. Now you're all cocky because you feel like the big man. Well, we'll see about that.
