XVII
It wasn't often that Emma ever went out shopping. Normally she ordered her groceries or whatever by television: selecting items displayed on the screen and getting her account automatically debited. But it wasn't always possible to get everything you wanted that way, and so, despite her reluctance to wear any kind of clothing, she set off during her lunch time to visit the shopping mall. Others may not have been convinced that Emma was making a concession as she walked along wearing nothing but sandals and a long skirt hanging from her waist, but even this minimum of clothing had to be borrowed from one of the sex actresses in a production of updated Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales that Emma was working on.
She eventually found the book shop she was looking for: one quite large enough to have everything she might like to buy or browse. There were several floors to the book shop, a cafe on the top floor from which she'd once been evicted for immodesty and a crèche for children near the entrance. Emma knew what she wanted though, and anxiously scanned the displayed index of book categories to find it. After some deliberation, she decided that
Sex and Family Matters
was probably the right section
. Modern and Ancient Pornography
,
Sexual Art and Photography
and
Education
were probably not right. Eventually she found the section she was looking for: very discreetly hidden in amidst
Baby Care
,
Pregnancy
and
Teenage Angst
. The classic book of teenage sex :
The Intimate Youth
.
The book was written by a Delia Cook, pictured naked on the back cover with her arms around two naked teenagers. The pictures were taken full-frontal, in keeping with the whole spirit of the book that was, as its flyleaf promised, frank and explicit. It also had a very coy front cover giving no hint of what it might be discussing. Which of course was entirely to do with teenage sexuality.
Emma looked through the frontispiece:
"In these days people are always asking for practical and unsensational advice with regard to leading a happy and harmonious intimate sex life. My intention is to provide readers with just this. I will make no attempt to moralise or preach, but I have spoken to and taken advice from individuals, who have practiced intimate relations with teenagers and where appropriate I have broadcast their opinions and advice. Much of what I discuss has, naturally, been based on personal experience, for which I must thank my very understanding husband. Naturally some research has had to be done elsewhere, and again I have tried not to shirk in my duties."
Emma flicked through the pages of the book, which was a very expensive and weighty hardback. There was a mixture of line drawings and black-and-white photographs supporting the text, which made the book seem bizarrely academic. It was with a certain amount of apprehension that she took the book to the cash desk because the reputation of the book was such that it was pretty much a confession to the world that she had a teenage lover.
However the middle-aged shop assistant who frowned so severely and unsympathetically at Emma as she wrapped the book up as if it was a bundle of dried faeces was less concerned about the book, of whose reputation she was thoroughly ignorant, than about Emma's toplessness. In fact the eyes that Emma felt like cloaked daggers as she walked along were not at all aware that she'd even bought a book at all. Book shops were still places where semi-nudity was generally confined to the book-shelf.
Emma knew that there was no likelihood that she'd ever be able to read the book at home, where Maisie would be forever demanding her attention. And even if Maisie were not there she still felt sufficiently embarrassed about her relationship with her not to want to be seen reading a book on the subject of such intimacies by her flatmate and guests. She therefore walked to a nearby park, and sat down to read it as discreetly as she could. She deliberately chose to lie down on her front on the warm summer grass, so that her breasts would attract rather fewer in the way of lascivious stares.
How to Bring Intimacy into Your Life
was the title of the next section she looked at. There was a line-drawing of a boy's erect penis being stroked by the hands of an older woman.
"When and How to start intimate relations is a tricky question which I've often been asked. I think the honest answer to that question is to ask the questioner just why they are asking the question. I don't believe it is right to start an intimate relation unless the entire reason for doing so is to do with wanting a fulfilling and close loving tenderness with them. And this is a view widely shared by those I have discussed the subject with. It is quite natural to feel a strong and deeper affection for teenage friends, and only natural that you should want to express this affection in the most intimate way possible. It must be remembered of course that others may not feel that an intimate closeness should be quite as free and varied as you do.
"In particular, it is worth mentioning that once you have started on the path of intimate relations, it cannot be reversed. My daughter, Jennifer, would not now contemplate a relation that did not include complete vaginal penetration - and already my son, Kevin, considers time spent with a lover that does not involve fellatio or cunnilingus as wasted effort. But once started on this path, there is undoubtedly satisfaction and joy that brings a relationship closer together."
After this preamble, there was a section which described techniques of introducing oneself and one's lover to the joys of sex. Throughout there were constant warnings about going too far to begin with, because this was a subtle and progressive process and as much attention must be given to psychological preparedness as to the physical. As regards to the physical, the advice was generally to do with precautions for anal intercourse and, indeed, vaginal intercourse.
"In the heat of the moment it is always possible to forget the discomfort that your activities may cause. As a general rule, do not start any kind of penetrative sex until your partner actually requests it (and don't worry, he or she will in due course!). Even then judge your penetration appropriate the participant's experience and their physical limitations. Some men and women may have very tight orifices, so don't think those of your lover are going to be very different. The advice I would tend to give is: Stick to the oral sex for as long as possible. Your lover can get considerable joy from having his or her sexual organs caressed by the tongue, and they will never tire of stimulating your own - in particular the penis if you have one. A word of warning however - it is possible to choke on a fully erect penis, so to avoid future distress, gauge this behaviour appropriately. "
Emma flicked through the pages until she came to a chapter entitled coyly
Other Couples and You
. This chapter concerned itself with sex with other couples.
