Mind Contagion Ch. 02

Author's note: Thanks to all readers for the response so far to the first chapter of Mind Contagion. This is likely to be a long story, so bear with me! Details you may be wondering about will probably be revealed later. Feel free to contact me via email anytime. I try to answer all emails, even if it takes me a couple of days to get to them. JAH

*****

Chapter Two - Testing Hypotheses

Jeremy didn't know how to feel, possibly because nothing remotely similar had ever happened to him. He could have stopped it, sure, but really, could he have? The answer was yes, but he justified it to himself because it was his first date with Lauren, and the whole situation was so...weird.

He walked into the outer office of work the next morning, still a little bit flustered from the night before. Sarah was in her usual spot, but something was odd there too. She was wearing an unusually low top and instead of glancing up from her phone like usual, she stood up and pushed back from her chair.

"Good morning Jeremy." She said. The words were there but they didn't sink in. His eyes instinctively travelled down her body. Curves. That was the word stuck in his brain. She was wearing a short skirt to match the provocativeness of the top. She looked like a proverbial hourglass, in modest heels.

"Morning Sarah, you look nice." He said, his mind on Lauren. Maybe this was a test, friend to friend.

She started approaching him.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Er, no. Gotta check on the behavioral changes." He stammered. "Can you buzz me in?"

A look of disappointment crossed her face, then she turned, bending back over the desk and hit the buzzer, sticking that perfect ass out. Jeremy darted through the door, afraid that the bulge in his pants would soon be noticeable.

"Maybe after work then?" He heard from behind him as the door closed.

_____

Lauren showed up at his lab far before lunch.

"I've got to talk to you about something." She said.

Shit, the waitress was a set-up, Jeremy thought.

"What's up?" He asked, trying to look innocent.

"Well, I'll come right out and say it." Lauren said, moving into his personal space. "I've liked you for quite a while now and I'm glad we got to go out. I'd like to see you again, and get to know you better."

"Sure. Dinner again?" He said, and his mother rolled in her grave.

She blew right through his obliviousness. "Yeah, dinner at my place tonight."

Lauren kissed him on the cheek before she left, and he just stood there stunned as the door closed behind her. She was wearing a skirt. That's a first, he thought.

What the heck is going on, he thought. Suddenly a melody played in his head.

'She said I'm going to mix it up right here in the sink...'

Years and years of hypotheses and scientific observation churned through his head.

'...it smelled like turpentine it looked like India ink...'

Lauren, Lindsay, Sarah. Lauren was the common factor.

'...I held my nose I closed my eyes...'

Jeremy was back in the elevator, heading up to the upper office.

"Sarah?" He said, coming out of the inner door.

"Yes." She said, her eyes lighting up.

"Stand up for a moment."

Sarah stood up, a quizzical look in her face.

"Ok, now what."

"Tell me what you're thinking right now. Be honest."

Gears quickly turned in the voluptuous redhead's eyes.

"I want you to fuck me."

"Really?"

"Really."

Jeremy realized that's where his thought process had stopped. His head was spinning.

"Let's talk about contagious diseases."

"Ok."

That was the kicker.

"Bark like a dog."

Sarah and Jeremy basically acted out the scene from a movie he had always enjoyed. Like Simon Says without the Simon.

"Don't tell anyone about this."

"Ok." Sarah said.

Jeremy returned to his office.

_____

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." Jeremy repeated like a scratch on an old George Carlin album.

He spent the rest of the day, apart from lunch with Lauren, going through his notes and observations. She had definitely been giving signs at lunch, even signs that he recognized. It was an unfamiliar concept and it was causing him a bit of mental turmoil.

"Figures, just when I find a girl that might actually go out with me, I contaminate her with something, apparently something contagious." He said aloud to the mice as he checked them. Definitely the same behavior. He pulled out his tape recorder and started talking, knowing that he wouldn't be able to write as fast as his thought processes were churning.

"Apparently the substance is psycho-active in the female brain. Upon first exposure, the virus, not the subject chooses a suitable male in the vicinity and alters the host to form a desire for mating with that male. After this 'lock-on', the virus is programmed. Once transmitted to the next host, the virus is still locked on to that male if he is in range. Need to commence some testing to see if an exposed subject who has no direct contact with the locked-in male will feel any effects."

He paced around the lab like a madman.

"Initial exposure was to Lauren. Lauren and Sarah had physical contact shortly thereafter. Lauren also had contact with Lindsay at the restaurant. I left almost immediately after the Lauren-Sarah contact and she only showed symptoms the next morning. The Lauren-Lindsay contact created symptoms in Lindsay within a fifteen minute window. So now what the fuck do I do?"

"Well, for one thing, don't agree to meet Lauren's mother." Jeremy said out loud, then snorted loudly through his nose.

It finally dawned on him that he was planning to meet Lauren for dinner. He didn't want to take advantage of this, not with her at least. How was he going to get through the evening?

Lie.

Not something he was generally good at, but it was worth a shot. He hated to do it, but he needed to avoid her for a while and see if the virus would pass out of her system. Maybe after a period of time the effect would wear off and the subject would wonder where that passing attraction had come from.

Sarah, on the other hand...

_____

"I'm sorry, Jeremy. I hope you get to feeling better." Lauren said through the lab phone as he gave her a story about going home early sick. "I was just talking to Sarah a few minutes ago and she said you looked good this morning."

What?

"Why would she say that?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, she was congratulating me on my date with you. Seems like she might like you too, so don't get any ideas." Lauren said, chuckling.

"Oh, of course not." Jeremy said. "I've only got enough social incompetence for one woman at a time. Is that all she said?"

Lauren laughed at this, then told him again that she hoped he felt better in the morning. "Just girl stuff."

Jeremy felt relieved. Apparently the suggestion to not tell anyone about this had worked. He knew it was a moral conflict that he was protecting Lauren, at the same time as he was devising a plan to take advantage of the same state with her friend Sarah. Well, he thought, she does kind of treat people like crap...good enough.

Sarah heard the tune he was whistling even before he stepped out of the inner office. She scampered around and sat provocatively on the desk as he entered the room.

"Hi, Jeremy, going home early?" She asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"I am, Sarah. I'm not feeling well."

"Oh, so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?" She said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Since you're offering, sure." He said, smiling wryly.

"Great, what can I do?" The voluptuous brunette asked, leaning closer to him.

"Put on something sexy and meet me at this address when you get off work." He said, jotting it down on a sticky-note. "And don't tell anyone where you are going."

"Awesome. I will." Sarah said, grinning shyly. It looked odd on her.

Jeremy leaned in and kissed her deeply. She responded slowly, but he broke it off just as she was getting into it.

"Later." He said, feeling something new. Cockiness, maybe? He patted the small, stoppered bottle in his front pocket. Science calls, he thought to himself.

_____

Jeremy, a scientist if nothing else, went through the tests he wanted to perform as he drove.

One: Determine approximate time needed for the effect to take place.

Two: Determine if dosage variations have an impact on the effect.

Three: Determine degree of susceptibility to suggestion following dosage.

Four: Determine validity of contagion hypothesis.

Five: Determine length of infection.

Pulling into his doctor's office, Jeremy checked his watch. Still plenty of time to perform testing before his rendezvous with Sarah later that evening.

Before entering the office, Jeremy did something that he wouldn't have expected he would ever do before a day ago. He opened the stoppered bottle and placed one drop of his solution on his right palm. The sheer thought of it made him shudder, but he pushed through into the office regardless.

"Jeremy, nice to see you." The receptionist said, glancing down at her screen. "Did you have an appointment?"

"Actually no, Susan." Jeremy said, then leaned in conspiratorially. "I just need to talk to Dr. Abbi for a moment, it's highly personal."

Jeremy had been going to Dr. Schoen for the last five years and as a typical hypochondriac, he had a good rapport with his doctor. His hypochondria might have had something to do with the fact that Abbi was incredibly gorgeous. Curly brunette, sparkling green eyes and a voluptuous yet firm body that he had been secretly admiring every visit.

"Ok, she's just finishing up with a patient. I'll slip you in-between if it will only be a minute."

"Thank you so much, Susan." Jeremy said, making sure to keep his right hand down to his side.

Watching the second hand of the generic office clock tick ever forward almost hypnotized him, though it couldn't have been more than five minutes before Abbi stepped out of the exam room, scanning the waiting room.

"Jeremy?"

Jeremy stood up and hustled over to her. "Thanks, Dr. Abbi. I just had a quick question, I promise I won't take much of your time."

Mid-sentence, his right hand went out in a handshake gesture. Even at odd times, most people respond. Abbi did. She shook his hand as she led him into the exam room.

"What's the trouble, Jeremy?"

"Well, you know I work with pathogens, right?" Jeremy started, now questioning himself as to how he would know if she was affected.

"You've mentioned it before." Dr. Abbi said, non-verbally urging him to be quick.

"Well." Jeremy paused, watching the twin of the clock in the waiting room tick forward.

No obvious signs or outward indications of exposure or contagion, Jeremy thought.

"I may have been exposed to something. Tell me honestly, how do I look?"

Abbi stepped back and looked at him. "You look really good."

Not normally what I would have expected her to say, he thought. Press on.

"No, what are you really thinking?" He asked. It was similar to the approach he had used on Sarah.

"Well, I've never noticed how cute you were." Abbi said, absent-mindedly running her pen across her full lips.

Ok, mom, Jeremy thought. Probably not what you were going for, but here goes.

"We don't have much time." Jeremy said.

"What do you mean?" Abbi said, snapping her eyes to the clock like she had been in a daze.

It almost threw him, but he pressed on again.

"Bend over the exam table." Jeremy said.

"Really?" Abbi said, smiling.

"Really."

Abbi faced the table and bent over at the waist, putting her elbows and chest on the surface with that annoying crinkly-paper sound. "Like this?"

"Just like that, Abbi." Jeremy said, moving up behind her. He pushed her lab coat up past her waist and unceremoniously grabbed the band of her scrub pants and whisked them down to her ankles, revealing a round and beautiful behind and full, thick legs. He wasn't at all disappointed. Abbi gasped as the second move brought her panties to meet the rest at her feet.

The gorgeous doctor arched her back, presenting a very nice picture as Jeremy's pants followed suit. It was less than a minute before he was inside of her, feeling her body clamp down on his invading organ.

"Keep it quiet, Jeremy." She said with a gasp as he started pumping in and out of her body, squeezing and man-handling those gorgeous ass cheeks with each stroke. He didn't say a word, just enjoyed the sensation of giving it to his much-dreamed-of doctor from behind over her own exam table.

One: Two minutes or less between exposure and full effect.

Jeremy filed the mental note quickly, getting back to the pleasure at hand. He. was thrusting as hard and deep as he could without creating a noise that would be heard outside of the exam room. Abbi's body was tight and responsive as he leaned over her and spoke to her softly.

"Come for me."

The effect was almost instantaneous. He heard Abbi stifle a sound that nearly escaped as her body tightened up and flushed. She tightened around him, pulsing spasms around his cock as it continued to slide in and out of her. Her legs were shaking and he could tell most of her weight was off of them as he enjoyed using her body. She was trying to keep quiet, but he could hear her ragged breathing and gasps as a presumably powerful orgasm washed over her, wave after wave.

Three: First test of susceptibility shows ability to control bodily functions.

As if finally started subsiding, its effects were bringing Jeremy to the edge himself.

He pulled out of her and guided her down to her knees in front of him. She gave no resistance as he positioned her and pushed his slick, throbbing member between her beautiful lips.

"Look up at me, Abbi." Jeremy said, wrapping his fingers gently in her hair, pulling her back and forth along the length of his cock. Seductive green eyes, filled with lust locked with his as he slowly fucked her face. It only took a moment longer before he was filling her mouth with come. She swallowed each shot in turn, the constriction of her swallow bringing along the next shot, until he was practically limp in her mouth.

After-sex guilt hit Jeremy a little bit as he surveyed the scene around him. He pulled up his pants as the gorgeous doctor knelt in afterglow.

"Ok, Abbi, clean up and don't tell anyone about this."

"Ok, Jeremy." Abbi responded.

"Have Susan set me up with an appointment next week."

Jeremy slipped out of the exam room before Abbi had finished dressing, not speaking to the receptionist before he left the office, a sly, if not a little guilty smile on his face.

_____

There was a knock on the door right on time. Jeremy had spent a little bit of time at home cleaning up both himself and his apartment after his earlier appointment with Dr. Abbi. True to his calling, he had also taken some notes on his first deliberate test of his hypotheses, making detailed observations and expanding on other possibilities of the drug he had developed.

"Hi Sarah, come on in."

Sarah actually appeared to be blushing as she walked in through the door. Dressed in a miniskirt and heels, with a low-plunging top, she looked the part of what Jeremy often referred to as 'trailer park chic'; more slutty than classy or sexy, but still a pretty nice package to look at.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"Beer?" Sarah replied, her eyes scanning the apartment.

"Sure thing, have a seat and I'll be right back."

Jeremy went into the kitchen as Sarah settled down on the couch. He popped the caps on two beers, consciously wondering how the domestic microbrew would be received as Sarah was likely a Bud or Miller girl.

His testing with Abbi had gone so well he was quickly losing his nervousness of the things he would have to do in order to fully test his theories. Besides, she was here, right? It was the perfect opportunity to put the new drug through its paces.

"I always got the impression that you weren't that much into me." Jeremy started as he walked back in from the kitchen. Sarah had sat on the couch, leaning back with her legs crossed in a sexy pose.

The question appeared to briefly fluster the girl, but she finally managed a response.

"You're really not usually my type, but you've been growing on me recently."

"Recently, meaning like yesterday?" Jeremy said, handing her the beer, which she looked over like it was a foreign object. "Boulevard Wheat, it's from Kansas City."

"Oh." Sarah said, taking a pull. She made a bold attempt to hide the 'bitter beer face', then went on. "Before that. I'm just intimidated by your work, that's all."

Jeremy brushed off the lie.

"It doesn't have anything to do with me dating Lauren does it?"

This brought out the biggest flush.

"Well, you guys have only been on one date, right?" She said, returning to the beer more as a prop than for pleasure.

"That's true." Jeremy said, pulling on his own bottle. "I've always thought you were hot but really got the impression that I was nothing to you."

"Well, I'm here now." She tried to say with an embarrassed smile.

"You are at that." Jeremy replied, putting his beer down on the coffee table. "You really want to fuck me, don't you?"

There was a silence that actually managed to stifle the elephant in the room.

"Well, come get it." Jeremy urged.

Sarah looked like she was fighting the urge to jump up off the couch.

"I..." Sarah stammered.

"Here, I'll make it easier on you." Jeremy said, unzipping his pants. A moment later, his semi-erect cock was in full view. "Come over here and suck on this, Sarah."

Sarah's face was completely red, but she started pushing herself up from the couch, her chemically-driven desire overpowering her.

"Crawl over."

Sarah stopped pushing herself up and slipped down to the floor on her knees. Jeremy suddenly found himself wishing he had set up a camera. The sight was incredible and his shaft responded with its admiration of the sight before him. She not only crawled over, but she made a show of it, slinking like a big cat hunting its prey, ending up with her head between his knees, her lips inches from her manhood.

"I like lots of eye-contact, honey." Jeremy said as her lips parted and she took him in her mouth for the first time. She locked eyes with him as she took his entire length in one stroke, making Jeremy shudder. It was tight and wet and hot and the whole circumstance was incredibly hot.

"Jeremy, it's me, Lauren."

The sound drifted through his swirling thoughts, combined with hot lips wrapped around his dick, gorgeous eyes staring up at him hungrily, and the sound of knocking at the door. It snapped him immediately out of his reverie and into the real world. His instincts kicked in.

"Don't make a sound or talk." Jeremy said, pulling Sarah's head off his aching cock. "Go into the bathroom in the bedroom and close the door."

"Coming." Jeremy said in his best 'sick' voice.

Sarah was just disappearing into the bedroom as Jeremy unbolted the door. He was about to open it when he realized he was still in a rather exposed state. He quickly tucked it in, trying to minimize the bulge with his shirt as he opened the door.

Lauren was gorgeous as usual and was carrying a pair of grocery bags.

"I brought you some stuff to make you feel better. Soup and such." She smiled, waiting.

"Oh, come in. Thanks Lauren. That's very sweet but I'm pretty contagious."

"I'm an epidemiologist, Jeremy. If I was worried, I wouldn't be here right now."

The pair sat on the couch and talked. Jeremy was watching the clock, ten minutes, fifteen, twenty. He couldn't ask her to go, but he was worried about Sarah's conditioning. Towards the end though, he noticed something, or at least the lack of something. She wasn't making even the vaguest sexual overtures. It had been a little longer than 48 hours. Maybe that was the upper limit. That made him take the next mental leap. She was still here, caring about him, even without the infection.