Night 25:

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Laura asked gently as they sat on the couch, the curtains already drawn but the lights bright.

"No," Steve admitted shyly, "but I've never missed a homework assignment before."

Laura smiled softly. "Let's go slow. Just touch them like this first."

"She said you should be topless," he replied sternly.

"I don't wanna overwhelm you. Just touch my breasts over my blouse first."

"Take off your shirt, Laura," he ordered.

She looked him in the eye for a long moment before she nodded and began to unbutton her blouse. She began quickly, but then she looked up at him as she reached her cleavage. She watched him lick his lips instinctually. She tried to refrain from smiling too brightly. She slowed down, allowing him to savor each button as she undid it. Finally, she undid the last one and let her shirt slide down her shoulders. She took a deep breath and sat up straight to accentuate her chest as she let him stare at her in only a bra. Her best bra. She moved closer to him and saw him flinch. She frowned gently and grabbed his hand. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said firmly.

Laura nodded and leaned close to him. Slowly, her lips met his. She raised her hands to his cheeks and held his face to hers as her tongue slipped into his mouth. She kissed him passionately until she felt his arms embrace her. He hesitated as he touched her bare skin, but eventually he gave in and confidently held her body, stroking the satiny skin on her back. She slowly broke the kiss. "Do you wanna take off my bra, or should I?"

He swallowed hard. "I don't know how," he admitted in embarrassment.

"I'll teach you," she promised, reaching back to guide his hands to her bra. She felt his fingers grip the band, and she smiled. "This is what it would have been like if we'd hooked up in high school."

"What do you mean?" he asked, holding his hands perfectly still against one of her unmentionables.

She shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I just… You know how most people experiment a little before losing their virginities? We just saved it all up for our wedding night, and it was great, but this could've been fun too. Taking tiny steps like this. We just went straight for a home run, but sometimes it's ok to take four batters to get to home, you know?"

He smiled weakly. "But if we'd hooked up in high school, you wouldn't've known what you were doing either."

"I'd have known how to unhook my bra," she teased.

Steve laughed and snorted. "I'll figure it out eventually," he promised, beginning to pull at the bands.

"No, you'll rip it," Laura scolded.

"Well, turn around and let me take a gander at the hooking mechanism. I'm an engineer. I can figure it out."

Laura giggled. "Push the ends together, and then pull them apart."

Steve's brow furrowed. "Like a Chinese finger trap?"

Laura laughed loudly. "Yes," she giggled. "Exactly like that."

Steve followed her directions and felt her bra loosen. He let go of the ends and moved his hands up to the straps. He slid them down her shoulders and finally pulled her bra away from her body. He gasped as he saw her breasts in real life for the first time in his memory. They were beautiful, even more beautiful than they were in her picture. "Whoa mama!" he whispered.

She smiled gently. "What do you think?" she prompted.

Steve swallowed hard and reached out to her. He gripped her arms. "You're gorgeous," he smiled.

"Thank you," she smirked, "but my breasts…"

"Are perfect," he finished. "You're perfect."

"Are they everything you'd hoped?" she asked shyly.

"More. So much more," he grinned.

Laura grabbed his hands and kissed them. Then she moved them lower and placed them on her breasts. She exhaled in relief as she finally felt his touch again. She squeezed his hands against her breasts more firmly, encouraging him to massage her, which he began to do immediately. She closed her eyes as she basked in his affection and removed her hands from his.

He stared at his hands on her breasts in complete awe. He was finally touching her, and it felt amazing. At least, it did for him. "Does this feel ok?" he asked hesitantly.

Laura opened her eyes. "Yes," she assured him. "Totally."

"I wanna do it right for you," he insisted.

"You're doing great. You'll get even better at it, but I've just missed your touch so much… This feels amazing."

"How can I make it feel better? What do I need to do?"

Laura smiled at him excitedly. He really wanted to please her, just like her Steve had been so worried about the first time he had touched her like this. "My nipples, Steve." Her smile softened as he blushed deeply. "My nipples, sweet boy, are so sensitive. If you want to make my breasts feel good, you have to focus on my nipples."

Steve swallowed hard and looked down at his hands again. They were covering her perfect buds. "What do I do to them?"

"Touch them, stroke them, kiss them, lick them, pinch them, bite them, and oh, baby, you have to suck them. Suck on them like they give you everything you need to survive," she instructed, tingling all over at the very thought. She was in so much need. She knew she had already soaked right through her panties in expectation. It had been too long. Her body needed him.

He stared at her nipples intensely as he spread his fingers and allowed them to poke between them. He continued to massage her breasts, his fingers gently, and seemingly inadvertently, stroking her nipples as his fingers bent and relaxed again and again. He glanced up at her eyes.

"You can do more than that," she encouraged. "Kiss them, baby. Kiss my breasts."

He shuddered slightly. He leaned forward without hesitance, placing his face between her full breasts and pressing them to his cheeks. He kissed between them.

She reached a hand to the back of his head and stroked. "Mmmm… I can't even tell you how many times you've put your head right there when you were sad or when you were lonely or how many times you've just fallen asleep there. You used to tell me that that was your safe spot."

He leaned in deeper. "I can hear your heartbeat. I can feel each breath."

"The warmth of my bosom," she encouraged. "The goose bumps you give me." She took a deep breath. "Kiss me, Steve. Please. Kiss me all over."

Cautiously, he began to venture out of that safe space. He kissed the inner side of each breast, gently working his way around them both, moving closer and closer to the center. When he finally reached her left nipple, both breasts covered in his drool and sweat, he froze.

"Just kiss it, Steve," she encouraged, watching him excitedly.

He pecked it gently with his moist lips.

"Mmmm… Again."

He kissed it again.

"A longer kiss."

He moved more slowly and kissed her nipple again.

"Oh, baby, just suckle it!" she begged, pressing his head forward.

He gasped as she pressed him harder against her nipple, slipping it deep in his mouth. He began to suck on it happily, raising his loving gaze back to her as she stroked the back of his head.

"Ohhhh," she moaned with her eyes tightly closed. "Oh, Steeeeve…"

"Mmmm…" he purred softly.

She smiled and opened her eyes. "You like this, baby?" she cooed.

"Mm-hmm," he agreed, not moving his lips from her at all.

"I've missed this so much," she whispered, stroking the back of his neck lightly. He flicked his tongue over her nipple repeatedly, still holding it in his lips. She gasped and moaned again. "Oh, Steeeeeve, that feels so good," she moaned. "You're making me feel so good."

Laura continued to moan dramatically as he suckled on her. She fantasized about taking him in every possible way and making his whole body hers again. She felt desperately empty as he continued to pleasure her breasts. When she couldn't stand it anymore, she pushed him back and looked him in the eye. "Steve, I want you to go down on me. Suck on me just like you're doing, but move down to my clit. Please. I need it."

Steve's jaw dropped. "I-I-I can't, Laura," he stammered.

"Yes, you can," she insisted. "It's just what you're already doing but a little lower. You can."

"I'm still getting used to this," he said, grabbing her breasts again.

Laura thrust her chest out to him. "Please, Steve!" she whined. "Eating me out is the easiest way to make me come, and I really need to come."

"I'm not ready," he finally answered.

Laura stood and pulled away from him suddenly. "Ok. I'm sorry. I just… I need a break then. I can't keep doing this. This is torture," she said quickly, looking away from him to hide how teary her eyes were getting.

Steve was so shocked as she left the room that he barely had time to put his hands down, out of the position he was in while holding her breasts, before she slipped out.

———————————————————————

Laura came out of the bathroom about twenty minutes later. Steve was waiting impatiently for her on the couch, having not moved much at all. He stood when she came back out. She was now wearing his old "Brain Onboard" tee. He wanted to comment on how insanely cute he thought that was, but they had bigger things to discuss.

She looked at him sheepishly and spoke before he could. "Steve, I am so, so sorry." She immediately started to cry again and kicked herself. She was trying so hard not to make this apology all about her and her feelings. That was why she had taken so much time to calm down in the bathroom, but she couldn't control herself.

Steve walked over to her and gently placed his hands on her arms. He stroked them gently. "For what?" he asked.

Laura rolled her eyes at herself and wiped her tears hard. "You were taking such a huge step! This was the first time you'd actually touched me intimately since you lost your memory. This little homework assignment was totally different than all the other ones, and I blew it! I got all hormonal and lonely and crazy and tried to pressure you into more just like Myra used to! Just like all those guys I used to date used to pressure me! God, I can't believe I'm just like them. I can't believe I tried to do this to you when I know how much it hurts. I'm so sorry, Steve. I hope you know I'm willing to wait for you, and I know this is gonna set us back a lot, but just know that I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be even more patient. I'm so sorry."

Steve pulled her in for a tight hug and was surprised to feel she wasn't wearing a bra. Though he wasn't totally sure why he was surprised. Her bra was still on the living room floor. He buried his face in her neck and slid his hands up the back of her shirt.

It was her turn to gasp as his hands gently stroked her bare back. She felt her nipples get hard again, still pressed into his chest.

"Laura, it's ok. I'm not upset with you. I'm not hurt."

Laura pulled back and looked at up at him. "You're not?"

"No," he replied immediately. "No. Not at all. I could never be hurt because you want more of me. I'm thrilled."

Laura swallowed hard. "But you're not ready."

"Not yet, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to ask. I want you to ask me for what you want. I need to know what you want. I'm just sorry I can't always give it to you."

"But don't you feel bad when I push you for something you're not ready for?"

Steve thought for a moment. "A little," he admitted.

"I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that," she said firmly, hugging him tighter.

"I don't deserve you," he whispered.

Laura pulled back to look him in the eye. "What?"

He tucked her hair behind her ear. "You're being so patient. It's been over a month since I woke up, which means it's been about two months since you've… made love to your husband. That's a long time."

Laura nodded and looked down, away from his loving eyes.

"That's a lot longer than most of those boys waited to start pressuring you, and they had way less of a right to your body than you do to mine. You're nothing like them."

"I know. I just… miss you."

"I understand, and Laura, I wanna make love to you. I hope you know that. At first, I needed a little push from you, but I'm glad we're in therapy. I'm glad we're trying to make this right. I'm not ready, but I want to be ready. I've always wanted to be your husband, and this is part of that."

Laura shook her head. "But it's not the most important part," she said firmly. "The most important part is that you love me and spend time with me and take care of me and let me do the same for you. We're doing all of that."

"It's not the most important part, but it's important."

Laura looked away again.

"It's important to me. I want you, Laura Lee Winslow. I've always wanted you. Before I even knew what it was that I wanted, I knew I wanted it with you and only you. I'm back at work now. I'm comfortable with our family and friends. I love being your husband. I love our life, but I want more. I want what we used to have. When you look at me, I want you to see the man I've become, not the scared, lonely little boy I used to be. We're going to fix this. I'm going to fix this, and I'm going to make love to you, and I'm going to make a baby with you."

Laura reached out and took his hands. She squeezed tightly and leaned into his strong chest. "It's late," Laura said eventually. "We should go to bed."

He nodded. "Let's go pick out a nightie." He stepped away from her toward the bedroom.

"No."

"No?" he asked, turning back to look at her.

"I wanna sleep in this," she said, pinching the t-shirt between her fingers. "It reminds me of you. I need a break from the nighties. It's too much right now."

"Ok," he agreed. "That's fine. Whatever makes you comfortable."

"Let's go to bed," she said, grabbing his hand.