Joe_bates_saga

34 Joe_Bates_Saga________________________________________________________

1. Chapter

Before Joe drove into the Honeybone lot, he pulled the hot sweatshirt back down around his waist. It wouldn't do to allow the guard see his attempt to keep cool as he drove. Joe was perspiring, and felt sticky. He couldn't wait to get home, take a shower, and maybe even slip one of those wispy tank tops on. When Linda first helped him experience wearing such minimal feminine clothing, it was embarrassing at first, but in just a week he had, more or less grown accustomed to the idea.

Joe's still developing breasts were a natural part of his body, and he only really noticed them when looking down, or seeing himself in the mirror while dressing. Their feel, and the slightly supporting/confining sensation of wearing the bra... He had pretty well adjusted to that.

Joe walked past the security check point. The guard recognized him and raised a hand in friendly greeting. "Afternoon, Joe. You're getting here kind of late, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I guess I am," Joe agreed, accompanying the small-talk with a smile. "But, better late than never, right?"

Joe walked down the hall, aware that the guard was probably watching his backside as he walked away. He understood the curiosity. He would have been the same way, had this happened to somebody else. When Joe reached the lab, he walked directly inside. Across the large room, near the cage, Joe saw Dr. Krell talking intently with two men in short lab coats. It appeared that they were discussing a procedure for placing one of the primates in a nonmetallic holding cage, with the idea of placing that into the RF cage. Joe went over to them.

"If we place him in there for something under twenty minutes, and keep the power the same, I think that will be enough variation," The doctor was saying.

"Are you already trying animals?" Joe asked. He was surprised that they would be doing that already.

"Hello, Joe," Dr. Krell said. "Joe, this is Peter Shead. He's our lead research assistant. Peter, this is Joe Bates. He's... She's one of the . . . shall we say victims of this device."

"Hi, Peter," Joe said, offering his hand. He realized that Dr. Krell was subtly using the term "she" when referring to him. "Nice to meet you. And I guess you can call me whatever you like. I'm starting to get used to it." Joe smiled demurely as he spoke.

"I'm truly impressed to meet you," Peter said, looking Joe over as he shook hands with this attractive young woman. He did nothing to hide his obvious curiosity.

Joe thought it might be best to get everything out in the open. "Trust me. Under this baggy sweatshirt I'm probably everything you've heard. Last week, I was just a normal guy. Now, I've turned female, I guess. At least physically, anyway. It's been kind of hard for everybody to accept, especially me." Joe grinned.

"I know," Peter said. "I've already met Dave and Michelle. She said her name had been Mike, but she has already changed it to Michelle. Amazing." As he spoke, the lab door opened. A tall, muscular, reasonably attractive young woman with abnormally broad shoulders entered, carrying a scope in one hand. She was wearing snug fitting slacks which accented the curve of developing hips, and a white blouse that was far too tight around her breasts. Joe recognized her as his friend Mike.

Michelle spotted Joe standing next to Peter, and his-her face lit up in recognition. "Hi, Joe," she said. "How'd everything go in St. Paul?"

"The Man's coming down here for a few days," Joe said. "I think he's on our side, though."

Michelle placed the oscilloscope on the bench along the wall, and walked over to Joe as Peter went back to where Dr. Krell was working. It was obvious by the way she had carried the scope, which must have weighed close to fifty pounds, that she was still very strong. It was strange to watch this macho, former weight-lifting male, as he adjusted to the strange phenomena of total feminization.

"Good," Michelle said. "I just hope he lets us keep on working."

"I'm pretty sure he will," Joe said. "How are you getting along?"

After a short initial depression, Mike-Michelle seemed to do a complete change about, suddenly just seeming to accept what happened better than any of them, even if she was still the most masculine looking of them all. "Pretty good, I guess," she answered. She formed a hand over one breast, which, to Joe, seemed considerably more developed since the last time they had seen each other, three days ago. Mike seemed have little more than swollen nipples then.

"These are really starting to grow," Michelle went on. "Are you noticing that, too?"

"Yeah. I think so," Joe agreed. He sensed his own shape was still getting softer and a little rounder each day, but it was not as evident as on Michelle's larger, still somewhat masculine frame. For Joe, the initial transition had been more complete, and seemed to happen much quicker. "Who'd have thought we'd end like this, eh?" Michelle continued. "I still can't believe what's happening to me... I mean, I'm even finding myself looking at guys and everything. And I'm just horny all the time. I think I've already used more of those little mini-pads than a real woman uses in a year. I'm just always wet down there. Maybe it would be sort of fun, if it weren't so damn embarrassing."

Joe knew what his friend meant. At first, he too had experienced almost continuous sexual arousal after the metamorphosis. His changed genitalia, which appeared to look like, and even function as a normal vagina, responded by secreting lubricating moisture so well that his underwear had been practically always soaked. Dr. Krell thought it probably had been from the level of testosterone remaining in his system. If it was, it must be subsiding, since unless he did something that caused him to become aroused, he was not usually bothered uncomfortably anymore.

Joe couldn't help notice that Michelle repeatedly used the term "real woman." He found himself thinking and doing the same thing. No matter how he felt, or how he looked, to himself or others, it was impossible to equate what they had become with persons actually born female. The change might be complete, but it certainly didn't erase your past.

"How's Dave doing?" Joe asked. Joe knew that Dave had been the most depressed of any of them. As the only one married, it appeared Dave just didn't know how to deal with being a husband and father of two small children, while also having to adjust to living in a female body.

"Dave's here somewhere. You can see for yourself. I don't think there's been much change. He's been taking it pretty hard. I've tried to get him to see the humor in all this, but I guess he can't do that. I think I'd feel a lot different too, if I had kids... or, God help me... a wife."

"Yeah. It's hard enough to adjust to all this without having to worry about something like a family."

"How are you taking it? You look so natural, it's impossible to tell you weren't born that way."

"It is getting easier, I guess," Joe answered. "Seems like the longer I stay this way, the more normal it feels. I don't know if it's the hormones, or what. Are you noticing that feeling too?"

"Hmmm, I don't know," Michelle said. "I think I'm still undergoing changes more than you or Dave. It's been pretty hard. The clothes I bought the other day hardly fit anymore. Look at this." He/she stuck her finger in the opening between the buttons where new breast development stretched the fabric of the blouse.

"Get some new stuff," Joe advised. "Bring the bills in and give them to Jim. The Company will pay for it. It's the least they can do."

"Yeah, I know, but the way I've been growing, you wouldn't believe it. I think I'm gonna look like Dolly Parton before it all stops."

"What about Tim?" Joe asked. The young line boy who had just been watching them calibrate equipment had also undergone the same changes, and they had endowed the young fellow with a quite prominent bosom. Hardly Dolly Parton, but definitely larger than either Joe or Mike/Michelle.

"I've seen him, but he hasn't stuck around here much. He's been spending time with his sister. I think he's still taking it rather hard."

Joe looked closely at Michelle as she stood next to him watching the lab assistants. The Mike he knew was still quite evident, but Joe could see that his friend's face had become much softer, quite a bit younger looking, and now, downy soft, light facial hair replaced stiff whiskers. She was still big and still muscular, but it was obvious that Michelle was a woman, too.

"How's it going for you, really?" Joe asked softly. He wondered what it was really like for this former body builder to see his body turn soft.

"What can we do, Joe? I mean, we just have to take it one day at a time, don't we?"

"I don't know any other way. Like I said, it does seem to get easier each day. Are you noticing that?"

"Maybe. I don't know, really. I do know I'd like to try it with a guy sometime. I think that just might even feel pretty good. How about you?"

Joe grinned knowingly. He wondered if he should tell his friend of his experiences. No. It wasn't Mike's business. Let him try it in his own time. He might have the rest of his life.

"It does seem kind of interesting," Joe conceded. "My skin... The nerves... Everything seems so much more intense like this."

"I really do miss the original equipment sometimes," Michelle said, running her fingers along her pubic area.

"Yeah. Peeing sure is a lot more involved, isn't it," Joe agreed, the knowing grin returning. It was so strange to compare notes with someone else with the same affliction. Mike was a technician, and maybe he wasn't very eloquent, he did have a knack for getting to the heart of a problem.

"Hell, I feel like I've peed my pants about half the time," Michelle confided. "And I think I really need to go about every half hour too. I can't believe real women actually live like this."

"I felt like that at first, too. It has started to get better now, for the last three days anyway. Sometimes I hardly notice the difference."

"Do you still get hard-ons?" Michelle asked innocently. "I don't have much left down there, but sometimes I have the sensation of a raging boner. If that isn't the strangest sensation..."

"I don't have much to see anymore, either. But what there is, does feel like an erection all right."

"Think it's normal?" Michelle asked. "You think that's what real women feel like?"

"I don't see how anyone else could tell us that. I mean, we probably have more experience with both sides than anybody."

"That's a scary thought, isn't it?" Michelle mused, Mike's old grin showing up on her feminized face.

"What are they trying to do now?" Joe asked, changing the subject to the research. He found consolation talking to Michelle and the others with the same problem, but he would rather talk in more private surroundings.

"Well, I think they're trying to figure that out themselves. I believe they'd like to reproduce what happened to us on one of these monkeys, and then try to change it back. So far, they've just been looking over our records, trying to figure out how to duplicate exactly what happened. I think they're about come up with an experiment they all agree with."

"When will they try it?"

"They might put that cage inside the big cage this afternoon, and then they'll watch the animal all night."

"Poor monkey," Joe said, with a mock mournful tone.

"If it works, they'll probably be asking for a human volunteer real soon," Michelle continued.

"You want to try it first?"

"Dave will be the first one. He'd kill somebody if he wasn't."

"If it works, do you want to go back?" Joe asked.

"You ask that like you've been having second thoughts yourself. The answer is I don't really know. If you ask me at certain times I'd probably say yes. Other times, I might be more likely to say that I'd want to wait a while. I just don't know."

"I guess it's the same for me. Sometimes I find myself liking this, and then wanting to go back more than anything."

"If we could change back and forth... Have the best of both worlds... Now that would be something, wouldn't it?" Michelle thought aloud.

"It would change the world. If a guy spent a week like this, he'd sure have a new perspective on women."

"I've been thinking a little about the real chance of getting back. If you ask these guys just what's happened to us, and what would need to happen to change us back, I don't see how it would be possible. I think we better get used to these clothes." Michelle pulled on the sleeve of her blouse.

"I've been reading about it too," Joe volunteered. "And I agree. If we really have damaged or lost our Y chromosome, it probably can't be restored by more radiation."

"I guess I could live with that," Michelle said, "but I feel sorry for Dave. This female stuff just doesn't agree with him at all. He's really gonna gain weight too, I think."

Just then Joe looked over and saw an assistant was opening the door to the RF cage. Two others carried the plastic cage containing the Rhesus monkey into the large room-like cage. The monkey, familiar around humans, sat quietly in the small cage as it was placed on the low table directly in the middle of the RF cage. The men then came out and closed the door.

Joe and Michelle watched silently as the men went over to where Dr. Krell was standing at a small control console. As they watched, Jim Matheney came up behind them. "It won't be long now," he said.

Joe turned around and saw his boss. "Hi, Jim. What did you want to see me about?"

Jim didn't answer, but walked over to where Dr. Krell and his assistants were standing. Joe and Michelle followed.

"I knew they'd be trying this experiment this afternoon, and I figured you'd want to see what happened," Jim said over his shoulder.

"Yeah. I do want to see it, but my guess is there won't be much to see right now," Joe said. "If anything does happen, it'll be later, as the chromosomes work to rearrange the cells."

"It's just complete magic to me," Jim confessed. "If I didn't see what it did to you two, I'd say it was all bullshit."

"The basic building blocks of life," Joe said matter-of-factly. He was far from an authority on biology, but now had a very personal interest in it, and it recently had become his major subject of reading.

They watched as Dr. Krell threw the switches on the transmitters, and started the counter. There was nothing apparently happening, and the little primate simply shook the flexible bars of his cage as he tried get out and join the humans who were watching him so intently. His fate was being decided by the invisible radio waves which coursed through his small body.

Time passed quickly, and in what seemed like a few moments, the decided on ten minutes-twenty seconds passed. Dr. Krell switched off the transmitters. "Now, all we need to do is sit and keep a close eye on our little guy here, and see if his chromosomes were affected," he said.

The assistants removed the small cage from the large one, and took a blood and cell sample from the primate. They would do this every hour till Dr. Krell ordered them to stop.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Jim exclaimed.

"What did you expect?" Joe asked with evident sarcasm. "Do you want his dick to fall off while you watch?"

Jim looked at Joe with surprise. The slang words, while normal from a man, sounded strange coming from such an attractive young woman. "I'm sorry, Joe," he apologized. "I just can't help being awed by all this. But I really do appreciate your personal feelings about what's going on."

"I'm not mad at you, Jim," Joe corrected. "But I think it is important for everybody to realize that we didn't know anything was happening to us while we worked with the equipment. There was simply no indication of a problem."

Dr. Krell turned around and spoke. "Well, now we must wait. How are you getting on, Joe?"

Joe smiled at the little doctor. "Still ok, Dr. Krell," he said truthfully.

"I'd like to get another blood and tissue sample before you leave today," Dr. Krell continued, looking at Joe. "I want to keep an eye on the hormonal changes in each of you, and I haven't had your samples for a few days now."

Great. Joe thought. More blood tests. When will it ever quit? "Ok, Doc," he agreed. Soon, Dr. Krell's assistants had taken Joe's vital signs, withdrawn blood from his vein, and took a scraping from inside his mouth for a buccal smear test.

"You're free to go home, Joe," Dr. Krell said, smiling. "I'm curious, what's the rush?"

Joe smiled. It was hard not to like the little man who showed so much personal interest in his patients. "No rush, Doc. I just want to get some sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open right now."

"Is there anything wrong?" Dr. Krell asked. "That is a symptom of depression, you know."

"I don't think so. I think it's just a symptom of not getting enough sleep last night."

"Did you go out on the town?" Jim asked.

Joe looked at his boss, wondering how to answer. There was no way he wanted to tell them he spent the night in bed with Jay. "Not really," he fibbed. "I was watching TV and talking."

"How is it between you and Jay?" Jim asked innocently. "I know you two were good buddies. How's he taking what's happened to you?"

"OK, I guess. I have to watch him, or he tries to treat me like a sister or something, always watching out for me." This was partially true, but the brother-sister thing was obviously stretching it a little.

"Well, don't blame him," Jim said. "You look so different, so much younger, it's hard to remember that you... er... weren't always that way."

If you don't mind, I'll head for home." Joe said, looking at Jim. "Doc, if something interesting happens with the monkey, call me at home, ok?"

"Sure, Joe," Dr. Krell said. "Go home and get some sleep."

"Mike, er... Michelle, we just gotta get together with Dave and Tim," Joe insisted. "It really felt good talking about this with you. Dave probably needs that."

"Yeah, it was good for me, too," Michelle agreed. Though her body remained strong, femininity had certainly affected Mike's personality, making him a lot more personable, maybe even sort of mellow. Joe wondered if he was experiencing a similar personality change. If so, he couldn't tell.

"Maybe we can get together tomorrow," Joe suggested, "after work."

"Sure. Sounds good to me," Michelle said. "See you here tomorrow."

Joe said his goodbyes and left the laboratory. He stopped at his desk to check his mail. A small stack of magazines and junk mail was piled on his chair. In that respect, nothing had changed. He shuffled through it all, deciding that there was nothing that needed to be opened immediately. He left the room and started for home. As he passed the ladies' room, Joe decided to stop and relieve himself.

When he finished, Joe checked his hair in the mirror. It was certainly getting a little longer every day, and the attractive young woman staring back at him left no doubt he was becoming still younger looking, and even more feminine. Even when not trying to look female, he did. His eyes, nose, and other features were still in the process of redefinition. It was obvious that the strange feelings he was experiencing were being accompanied by continuing physical changes. It made him wonder about Dave, and how his friend was coping with his own involuntary feminization. Surely his wife Cindy could help Dave as much as Linda helped him.

Joe went out to his RX-7 and drove home. When he arrived at Linda's, it was about three-thirty, too early for Linda to be there. He took his bags and carried them to his room. He hung up the new clothes, then separated his soiled clothes into piles for the laundry. He came across the little silk chemise that Linda had apparently packed in his bag and carefully placed it on the dresser. He wanted to ask her about that.

When he had the washer going, Joe took the lingerie and carefully washed it by hand in his bathroom sink, then hung the panties and bras over his shower door. As he was doing that, he decided to remove the jeans and underwear he had on. He carefully washed that underwear, too, and the wild time last night went through his mind as he scrubbed the sticky substance from the crotch of the little blue underpants.

After he hung them to dry with the rest, Joe started the shower, then stepped in and quickly rinsed off. When finished, he dried and went to the bedroom. Going through his almost empty drawer, he chose new blue nylon panties and slipped them on. He rummaged to find a bra, then decided to dispense with that, instead slipping one of his old male T-shirts over his head. When he opened the drawer with his new shorts, he spotted the tank tops that Linda had suggested he purchase. What the hell, he thought, then pulled the T-shirt off and started to slip one of the skimpy little white tops on. Removing the T-shirt, the cotton fabric had rubbed against his nipples, making them stand erect. With his arms over his head, Joe gazed at the youthful form in the dresser mirror. What he saw in the reflection stirred pleasant memories of his male past.

No wonder Jay was acting so strange. I may still think of myself as a thirty-year-old guy, he mused, but I'm sure starting to look like an eighteen year old girl. He felt strangely guilty as he permitted his hand to fondle the softness. It just isn't the same when it's your own body, he concluded.

Enjoying the uniquely sensual awareness created by the taut jiggle of his braless, firm bosom, Joe slowly walked to the bed. Although the quick shower served to revive him a little, he decided to lie down a while anyway. He pulled the cool sheet back, and, leaving his thin outer garments on, he lay back on the soft pillows. He idly placed a hand on the warm, sensitive area between his legs, innocently enjoying his own gentle touch. In moments, he fell into a deep sleep.

He had been sleeping for half an hour when Linda arrived home and entered the house. She was anxious to see Joe, but when she arrived at the partially open door to his room, she could see he was fast asleep. She was tempted to wake him, but decided instead to remove her dress and lie by him on the bed. She figured her movements would wake him, and was surprised that it did not.

Linda looked at Joe as he lay sleeping. She was immediately aware of the continuing change in his appearance in only the two days since they had been together. His face was so much younger looking... even more than before. And still more beautiful.

Looking lower, she noticed Joe was not wearing a bra. She reached over to gently touch those amazing breasts. Here was this guy, her fiancee, and, whatever had happened to him, somehow he now had firmer breasts than she could ever remember having. She wondered if he really enjoyed the strange change that was occurring to his body. They had caressed intimately a few times, and Joe did seem to like the very different sensations presented by the metamorphosis, but Linda wasn't sure if he was just humoring her or if he really enjoyed it. Cautiously running her hand under the thin top, she gently fondled his new softness, then slowly circled the right nipple with a fingertip, feeling it stiffen proudly in response. That should feel very good, she thought as she watched Joe's face. A slight smile began to form on his sleeping continence.

She continued, and soon noticed Joe's hips begin to move involuntarily. She was exciting him as he slept, and he was responding the way almost anyone would. That gave her confidence, and she moved her other hand to Joe's pubic mound. It was so strange to touch someone who appeared in every way to be a normal woman. Though they had both enjoyed mutual fondling since the change, it was always at night, in very dim light. Linda generally still imagined Joe as male, and mostly caressed his back and strangely soft shoulders, usually trying to avoid the now very female parts of his anatomy.

She thought about what she said to him, just before he left for the trip, about how she wanted to become a man if he really had to stay this way. She had watched his reaction, and was somewhat surprised when Joe said very little about it.

Could she really do it? Did she really want to if she found it was indeed possible? What would it be like to be a man? Frankly, the idea didn't seem all that appealing. She thought of suddenly having big muscles, strong shoulders... a penis and testicles. What would that feel like? Wouldn't it be embarrassing to get an erection? To have your body stick out like that?

A woman's body is far more elegant, she considered. It was so soft... so gentle. Even Joe generally seemed to enjoy his recently acquired femininity. Did she really want to get all hairy? She looked at Joe... at his changed body. Before, he hadn't been very hirsute compared to some men, but now, he had nothing but very light down anywhere but on his head and pubic area.

Linda moved her hand further, between Joe's legs. She could tell that he wore nylon panties under the shorts. She could even feel the short pubic hair through the thin cloth. The male bulge was notably absent, replaced by a smaller but wider bump of hard pelvic bone. What was it like for him to wake up deprived of his precious manhood? What might it be like for her, if she was just as suddenly presented with such an appendage? She moved her hand to her own crotch, feeling for her clitoris. What would it feel like for that to be grotesquely long? To actually stick out when erect? To use for penetration?

Joe apparently missed Linda's massaging fingers, because his hips moved as if searching for the pleasant feeling. Linda obliged, touching him, running her finger gently along his genital cleft. She wished that she really was a guy right now. At least temporarily. She'd pull Joe's shorts down and let him experience sex with a man. She knew he'd want to try it eventually.

She could tell... by what he said, and by what he didn't say, that Joe was curious. And why not? Whatever had caused it, Joe's body had become completely female. Sometimes, Linda even felt tiny waves of jealousy when she saw the beautiful woman he had become. Why did all this have to happen to her man? And why did he have to be so beautiful? What could he possibly see in her now?

As he slept, Joe's dreams began to get very lucid. He still thought of himself as male, and usually dreamed that way. He reacted to the pleasant sensations by conjuring up another sexy meeting with Linda. She was fondling his penis, and running her fingers through the light hair on his chest. His penis felt ready to explode. Why didn't she lay back and let him enter her? He couldn't figure it, and didn't seem to have the strength to do anything about it. He just lay there letting her manipulate him. Suddenly he felt her lie on top of him. She instinctively spread her legs and began rubbing her crotch against his penis. He tried to maneuver so that he could get his erection in a position to enter her. It seemed nothing he could do, no way he could move, would allow him to make love with this beautiful woman. And still she wouldn't stop.

Joe had to have her and he finally found the strength to move his arms to take her and hold her. She reciprocated by wrapping her arms around him. He could feel the almost downy softness of her breasts. It seemed his own chest too had become more sensitive that he could remember it. Still asleep, Joe began to softly call for her to let him take her. "Let me put it in. Let me put it in," he begged

Linda was enjoying the sensation of friction of her clitoral area against Joe's pubis, each enjoying very similar feelings, and each getting closer to climax. Suddenly Joe began to moan slightly. It wasn't a moan really, but rather he was trying to say something in his sleep. "Oooh. Let me put it in," Joe said again.

He thinks he still has a penis. Linda concluded as she lay on top of him. Poor guy. She kissed Joe on the lips. Since the change, Joe had seemed so very different. He even smelled different. His pleasant masculine scent was gone, and to Linda, nothing had replaced it. She didn't really react to Joe's female pheromones.

The kiss woke Joe. His eyes opened and it took a moment to realize that Linda was on top of him. When he did realize who it was, he continued to fondle her buttocks. Then the reality of what was happening dawned on him. "Hi," he said simply, feeling embarrassed.

Linda looked embarrassed at what she was caught doing. She was wearing only her underwear, lying on top of him, pretending to make love as if she were a man. Her skirt and blouse were lying across the chair by the bed.

Linda's pretending wasn't immediately obvious to Joe. He reached down to feel his shorts, and realized that his underwear had become wet from excitement. "What's going on?"

Linda said nothing, her face getting even more red with embarrassment. She rolled away from Joe, and lay on her back.

Joe began to realize just what was happening. He sat up and then knelt next to her on the bed. As he looked at Linda, he saw from the wet spot on her own panties that she had been getting aroused by what she had been doing. "Was it fun?" Joe teased, then realized she was too embarrassed for that. "It was feeling pretty good," he continued. "Why did you stop?"

"Oh, Joe," Linda said, almost in tears. "I was just trying to imagine what it would be like to be a man... to make love with you that way."

Joe smiled. She had apparently been pretending to screw him as he slept. While he was dreaming of doing the same to her. "I guess you were doing pretty good," Joe remarked, putting his hand on his own pubic area and pulling the panty up so that the wetness there was visible to her. "I guess we both seemed to like it." He pointed to her underwear, which was just as visibly damp.

Linda's face opened up in a big grin. Joe could always see the best in everything. She reached up and kissed him on the lips again.

Joe looked at her, this woman who had just been on top of him as if she was making love. Did she really want to do that? "So you want to be a guy, huh? Then let's see what it would be like. I've kind of been wondering myself."

Kneeling, Joe slipped the little cotton tank top over his head. He tossed it on the chair next to Linda's things. He arched his back, making his small but firm breasts more prominent, then, with his hands, he pushed the soft mounds against each other in an attempt to appear seductive. It might be hard to act like a woman, but it was sure easy to look like one when your body was like this, he thought to himself. "Come on, big guy," he vamped.

Linda lay there, looking at Joe as he pretended to seduce her. She wasn't sure if she should take him seriously, or if he was just being sarcastic.

Joe unbuttoned his shorts, and slipped them down. He pulled them off and tossed them off the bed. He left the panties on. If Linda wanted them off, she could do it for him. "Go ahead," he ordered. "Pretend that you're a guy. Take me... Use me."

Linda sat up in the bed. "Joe," she said, as she took him in her arms.

Joe kissed her, then took her right hand and placed it on his bare breast.

"You really want to do this?" Linda asked.

"Sure. You say you want to be a guy, and I guess I'm a girl now, whether I like it or not. Let's find out what it might be like."

Almost reluctantly, Linda began to caress Joe's breast. Joe knelt next to her, and shut his eyes as if enjoying the sensation. He looked down at her. She was wearing pale yellow hi-rise panties with a bit of lace trim at the leg openings, and a sort of matching bra. Not exactly masculine apparel. Joe wondered what would make her less feminine, not for his sake, but for hers. He had an idea. "Just a second," he said. "I think I might have something to make you feel a little more macho."

"Macho?" Linda asked. "What could make me feel like that?"

Joe went to the dresser... to his underwear drawer. He looked around the almost empty drawer and found the black nylon bikinis he wore the morning after the change. Although they might have been the most feminine underwear he had then, they were still men's underwear. He also grabbed a clean sweat sock and came back to the bed. "Let's try this on."

Before she could object, he pushed Linda back on the bed and quickly pulled her panties off. He tossed them on the floor next to the chair. Then he took the black undershorts and slid them up her smooth legs. Linda reluctantly assisted by lifting her butt at the appropriate times, and when they were in place, she peered down at her lower body. The male underwear fit more-or-less, but the masculine bulge at the crotch was missing. Joe took her arm and pulled her to a kneeling position on the bed. He balled up the sweat sock and stuffed it into the front of the little nylon shorts. He carefully arraigned it until it was just the way he thought it should be. "What do you think?" he asked, unable to hide the grin.

Linda looked down at the bulge at her crotch, then at Joe. "And this is supposed to make me feel macho?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, I admit, it may not help much. But it sure is better than those lacy panties, isn't it?"

"You really think so?"

"Well, the boobs are kind of hard to ignore, but I'll try if you will."

"Now what?" Linda asked.

"You're a guy. Surely you know what guys want."

I feel stupid with this sock in here." Linda smiled as she cupped the bulge with her hand, as if trying to imagine what it would be like if the sock became real maleness.

"Well, we have to make do," Joe said. "And that's not a sock. It's nine inches of hot meat."

"Right."

Joe lay back on the bed and put his arms out. "God, I need you," he breathed. "Take me. Use me."

Linda, feeling more than a little foolish, smiled and moved to position herself on top of Joe. As she did, she moved her legs apart. Joe realized what she was doing and pushed her legs back together, then spread his own. "You're the guy, remember?" he admonished. "I'll spread my legs."

As she positioned herself, Joe could feel the bulge of the sock press against his pubis. The feeling really wasn't anything like with Jay. Jay was much harder... And of course, he aimed lower. But it did feel good... sort of. "Oh, yeah," Joe breathed. "I like that."

Linda started to move her hips as if making love. She pushed the sock firmly against Joe's pubic mound. Almost immediately, the sock moved lower, back between her legs, and suddenly they were again rubbing their pubic bones together. The feeling was good, but not great.

Linda reached behind her back, and pulled the sock out of her underwear. "This does nothing for me. How about you?"

"I agree."

Joe moved around so that Linda could position herself with her legs sort of entwined with his. In that way, they could better rub the more sensitive parts of their genitals against each other. They were both amazed at the pleasant sensation that allowed. Linda started a kind of side to side movement which seemed to excite Joe's clitoris most effectively.

"Hey, this isn't bad," Joe commented, as he started to reciprocate to Linda's movements.

Linda looked down at Joe and smiled, saying nothing, but continuing the pleasing movement. It was obvious from the expression on her face that she enjoyed it, too. Nylon panties eliminated the friction that might have been created as they almost frantically rubbed their genital areas faster and faster.

Joe was the first to stiffen his legs and experience a most pleasing orgasm. The combination of genital sensation and the sight of Joe getting off brought Linda over the top soon after. Spent, they clung to each other, still pressing identical genitalia together. Joe kept up a slight rocking motion, which created just enough stimulation to hold them at a pleasing point.

Climax really was different without ejaculation, he considered. Although penetration probably would have felt pretty good right now, he was quite satisfied without it. He was curious if Linda felt the same way. "How was that?" he asked.

Linda looked at him and smiled. Then she kissed him.

"Did you like it?" Joe asked again.

"What do you think?" Linda asked mysteriously.

"I think you got just as much out of that as I did."

"And I think you might be right," Linda said.

"We didn't even need a penis, did we?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think it would have been even better if one of us had one." Linda's humor was returning.

"I'd be glad to oblige, but I'm a little short right now."

Linda frowned at the clever pun. Joe suddenly realized just what he had said.

"Don't you just want a man right now?" she asked. "Or would you still rather be one?"

Joe looked into her face. It was plain that she was curious about his sexual orientation. His body was obviously capable of sex as a female. Was that what he really wanted? He didn't know how to answer her. He just grinned widely. "Either way would be great," he said diplomatically. "I guess I'd like to know how it would feel, but then, I already know how good it is as a man."

"Yeah, but don't you just want to know?" Linda persisted.

"Why are you so curious about that?"

"Joe, Look at you." Linda said. "You're gorgeous. I can't believe how beautiful and sexy you've become. Surely you'd want to be with a man rather than with me."

"Is it really that great as a woman, that I'd want to forget about the person I love?"

"But, you're a woman now. Surely you can't have the same feelings toward me."

Joe looked at her. "You're right," he admitted. "I do feel different. But I still love you. How about you? How do you feel toward me... toward what I've become?"

Linda reached for him and kissed him on the lips. One of Joe's breasts caught on Linda's bra, pinching his nipple. Joe reached down and pushed it out of the way, and then fondled Linda's boob through the lace and satin bra.

Linda reached up and rubbed Joe's breast. "Tell me the truth. Don't you really like having boobs?"

Joe pulled away from her embrace and looked down at his new curves. "They'd be more fun for me if they were on you," he said with his now feminine voice. "Of course you do look pretty nice yourself," he added diplomatically.

"The truth," Linda insisted. "Don't you enjoy looking like that?"

Joe smiled what he hoped was a devilish grin. "It's kind of neat, I guess. At first, the curiosity was everything. But I guess I'm getting used to being this way. I am really amazed at how young I'm starting to look."

"I've noticed that, too," Linda said. "I think you look even younger than the other day."

"I'm still changing, I guess," Joe admitted, the concern evident in his voice.

"When will it stop?"

"Who knows? We're still trying to figure out what's causing it."

Linda was staring at Joe's chest, idly fondling him as they spoke. Joe looked down, then back at her eyes. "Do I interest you?" Joe asked, amused.

Embarrassed, Linda moved her hand away from his breast. "I'm sorry. You just feel so soft, so smooth..."

"And it feels good when you touch me, too. I know it must seem strange... I know I look like a girl... I guess maybe I feel like a girl, too. But I still like being with you, too. Can you understand that?"

Linda slowly placed her hand back on Joe's softness. "I'm trying. But you have to understand... I haven't changed... I'm still the same... But you look so feminine... So beautiful... What can you possibly see in me?"

"I hope I'm seeing a beautiful woman who still loves to be around me," Joe said softly. "If we ultimately decide that we can't be, or don't want to stay together, we... we just have to stay friends, don't we?" Joe's gentle voice was almost pleading.

Linda placed her hand behind Joe's head, then, rising on the bed, she kissed him deeply, just as she used to. Their tongues even entwined momentarily. Joe reached down between Linda's breasts and unhooked the clasp of her bra. As he had done so many times before, he freed her breasts, and with Linda's help, removed the bra completely. But Joe didn't fondle her. He just didn't like the feel of the scratchy lace on his own sensitive chest. They embraced again, their breasts meshing as they kissed some more.

They both lay back on the bed, and Joe closed his eyes. Life was becoming so bizarre. Less than twenty hours ago, he was frolicking bed with his best friend. Now here he was, cuddling with his fiancee. It was still wonderful and pleasurable, but he felt out-of-place in both scenarios. What was he now, really? Linda's perfume, and his thoughts were buzzing through Joe's head as he fell asleep again.

Linda cradled him in her arms and watched him, realizing that Joe probably looked more like her younger sister than her lover.

What would become of their strange relationship?