Cougars (16 page)

“Let's not rush something into the pipeline that's going to fail.” Jasmine liked his enthusiasm for the task at hand, but wanted him to explore all possibilities.

“Trust me, I don't want to fail. I want to succeed more than anything. Helen said that if we can create something that's clinically proven safe and effective, we could enhance the lives of people all across the globe. That's the kind of work I want to do and that's the sort of thing that will make the scientific community stand up and applaud our work.”

“Sounds as if you have big ambitions,” Jasmine said.

“Yes I do,” Travis answered.

“Tell you what. Why don't we get together for a meeting on Friday around nine a.m. Gather up as much information as you can throughout the week and I'll do the same. Then we'll put our heads together and work on this.”

Travis's gusto was infectious and had somehow reignited Jasmine's passion for her work.

“You go it,” Travis said with slight smile and then continued with his reading.

B
Y
W
EDNESDAY
EVENING, Jasmine decided she'd go home at 5 p.m. instead of working past her regular hours. She was exhausted and needed to catch up on her rest. As soon as she entered the
house, she walked over to her sofa and plopped down. She pulled off her shoes and wiggled her toes which were aching from being confined in her shoes.

“Oh, what I wouldn't do for a foot rub right now,” she said aloud as she reached for the television remote. After flicking through the channels and finding absolutely nothing worthwhile to watch, she decided to run herself a hot bath. Twenty minutes later, her tired body from the neck down was completely submerged in water. As the warm water began to relax her, she thought about Travis. Over the past few weeks, he hadn't made any more advances toward her. He'd been completely professional and had behaved as if he didn't want her when she knew for a fact he did. On the one hand, Jasmine admired his cool demeanor and self-control; he wasn't all over her. She would have hated to pull him into her office and give him the
inappropriate behavior
speech. Then, on the other hand, it annoyed her that he hadn't made any type of advance, not even a wink of an eye on the slick tip. Jasmine had a love-hate relationship with her scatter-brained logic and the indecisiveness of her wishes.

“Well, girl,” she spoke to herself. “The best thing you can do right now is masturbate and use your mind to imagine what it would be like to have some of Travis.” Jasmine closed her eyes, took several deep breaths and relaxed. She imagined herself somewhere far away from the stress and anxiety of her career.

Jasmine walked along a tropical beach in a white sundress, wearing no underwear and enjoying the tickle of a breeze as it flowed between her thighs like a tranquil river. The sand warmed her bare feet as she moved toward the shoreline and stood still, allowing the rushing tide to bathe her feet. She admired the beauty of the horizon and its heavenly glow. As she continued on her stroll, she saw the silhouette of a man approaching. It was Travis, shirtless and wearing white linen pants
that were rolled up to his calf muscles. Travis pulled the drawstring on his slacks and stopped. He took them off and tossed them aside on the sand. His dick, now free of its fabric prison, dangled between his legs and bounced as he continued to walk toward her. Jasmine couldn't wait to get to him. She couldn't wait to feel the silkiness of his dick in the palm of her hand.

Jasmine's body began to ache. Her pussy contracted and caused her to take several more deep breaths. She ran her fingertips over her breasts making small circles around her nipples.

“Oh, Travis.” she spoke his name as she spread her thighs and slid her fingers down to her Goddess. She toyed with herself, inserting her fingers inside of herself while concentrating on the fantasy unfolding in her mind.
Travis had reached her now. They embraced and kissed each other passionately. The succulent flavor of his tongue was like no other she'd ever experienced. His hands were positioned on her ass, squeezing and caressing her.

“I want you to fuck me doggie style,” Jasmine said as she lowered herself to her hands and knees. Travis knelt behind her, then slowly guided his long cock inside of her.

“Pound me, baby,” she said after a few minutes of him gently thrusting his body against hers. Eager to please, Travis did just that. He pounded her hard and spanked her ass. Jasmine continually clutched the grains of the warm sand, allowing the granules to seep through her fingers. The sound of the powerful waves crashing against the shore in perfect rhythm along with the deep strokes Travis was giving her made her feel breathless. Travis pushed himself deeper and deeper inside of her. She felt herself explode on his hard shaft.

Jasmine slowed the pace of her fingers circling her clitoris. She enjoyed the euphoric moment that her masturbation session had provided. “Damn, I wonder if he's really that good in bed?” she said aloud as she repositioned her body and prepared to get out
of the tub. Once she toweled off, she went into her bedroom, opened up her underwear drawer and removed her vibrator.

“Come on,” she spoke to it. “I'm hornier than an inmate who's just gotten out of prison. I'm going to give you a workout tonight.”

F
RIDAY
MORNING PROMPTLY AT 9 A.M., Travis knocked on Jasmine's office door. She was on the phone speaking to Helen, but waved Travis inside and motioned for him to take a seat at her conference table. She finished up her phone call, then jotted down a few notes so she wouldn't forget what Helen needed her to do.

“Is it a bad time?” Travis asked. “I could come back.”

“No. This is still a good time,” Jasmine said as she searched her messy desk for the research information she'd gathered. Once she located it, she joined Travis at the conference table.

“Okay.” Jasmine exhaled as she scooted her chair closer to the table. “Why don't you go first and let me know what you've found so far.”

“Sure. As you know, the properties in Viagra are designed to increase blood flow to the genitals. The drug works well for many men who suffer with impotence or erectile dysfunction because it's considered a physical condition rather than an emotional problem.”

“Still, increased blood flow to the genitals of women can work as well, especially if a woman is suffering from vaginal dryness,” Jasmine chimed in.

“Absolutely, but female sexual dysfunction is characterized by a lack of desire, arousal, and orgasm. Lack of sexual craving is the chief complaint among women, affecting about one-third of them at some point in their life.”

“That, of course means that we'll somehow have to address the
emotional component of the problem. That's going to be especially challenging among women who have had very negative sexual experiences.” Jasmine began taking notes. She loved being engaged in the critical thinking process because during the course of conversation and debate, great progress could be made.

“Unlike men, the most important sex organ for women is between the ears. Once a man achieves an erection he's pretty much set for the most part. A man can have emotionally detached sex with very little difficulty. Women, on the other hand, need a purpose. They need to feel connected to their partner.”

“That's not entirely accurate,” Jasmine interrupted Travis.

“Sure it is.” Travis was certain his theory was correct.

“Women can have emotionally unattached sex, too. It just depends on where she is in her life,” Jasmine explained.

“How so?” Travis leaned back in his seat and placed the index finger of his right hand on his temple.

“Let's say you have a careerwoman who's had her fair share of relationships. She arrives at a point in her life where it's too painful to allow herself to get emotionally attached to someone, but she still has the need and desire for the type of penetration her toys can't provide. So she decides to seek out casual relationships, which she knows are only going to last a short period of time.”

“You sound like one of the clients from the list.” Travis didn't mean to speak what was on his mind.

“What list?” Jasmine asked, confused.

Travis chuckled to stall for time while he thought of a quick lie. He most certainly didn't want to explain his own personal sexual history to her. “It was a foreign film I once saw,” he explained. “It was about women who were into casual dating. I didn't mean to bring it up.”

“Oh, I see.” Jasmine wrote down a few more notes and then
continued to share her thoughts. “Sexual dysfunction for women can also be triggered by family concerns such as child care, illness, stress or job worries.”

“Let's not forget fatigue and depression. Those are major factors that can inhibit a woman's desire.”

“Okay. So in the grand scheme of things, what are we really looking for here?” Jasmine asked a rhetorical question.

“I think we're saying a number of things. Number one, female sexual dysfunction seems to be psychologically rather than physically rooted. Two, what the genitals are doing may play a less important role in how a woman defines her sexual arousal; and three, can we make an aphrodisiac that addresses all of this and make women want to have sex all the time.” They both glanced at each other and smiled. “All she has to do is hit forty and then nature will take over,” Jasmine joked.

“Okay, so maturity also plays a role in all of this,” Travis said, not skipping a beat or losing his train of thought.

Jasmine was a little disappointed that he didn't play into the little cat-and-mouse trap she'd set for him. She studied him as he wrote down some notes, fully concentrating and completely focused. It was then that she realized Travis was like a statue.

“The next thing we should probably take a look at is some non-prescription stuff that's already on the market. I meant to pull some information, but I didn't get a chance to. So why don't we schedule another meeting for next Tuesday?” Jasmine suggested.

“There is no need to do that. I pulled a pretty extensive list of products that have unsubstantiated claims.” Travis pulled out several sheets of paper that were stapled together. “I made a copy for you,” he said as he handed it to her.

“You're good,” Jasmine praised him.

“Good isn't enough for me. I want to be above and beyond that.” Travis's arrogance and ego had reared their heads.

“Yes. I know you've mentioned that before.” Jasmine paused to take a look at what he'd given to her.

“I highlighted a few interesting ones like this one here.” Travis reached across the table and pointed to what he wanted her to look at. “Kyrian claims to have been clinically tested and proven to increase the female sexual experience. However, when I read the literature on it, I didn't see anything that suggested that they had a control group. Then there is this cream here, which says that if a woman applies it to her genital area it will increase sexual desire.”

Jasmine drew a line through the product name. “I know for a fact that product has been pulled off of store shelves. There were reported cases that the product damaged the soft tissue of the labia,” Jasmine explained.

“Okay, I must have inadvertently overlooked the recall data on that.”

“No, you didn't overlook it. The news about it was just circulated this morning. That was one of the topics that Helen and I were discussing when you walked in.”

“Oh okay, I thought I was slipping there for a minute.” Travis breathed a sigh of relief.

“What else do you have?” Jasmine asked, wanting Travis to continue.

“There is DHEP which is a male hormone produced by the adrenal gland and ovaries and converted to testosterone and estrogen. DHEP depletes with age, but can be purchased over the counter in supplement form. I read in one small study published in a medical journal that women who took fifty mg of DHEP daily noticed a significant increase in sexual interest. But the drug has several drawbacks because of its potential for heart attacks and breast cancer and masculine side effects such as facial hair.”

“I don't like that one. The risks are far too great. When we pro
duce something, I don't want the side effects to lead to death or cancer. We wouldn't be doing the public any big favors by putting something like that on the market,” Jasmine said conclusively.

“No matter what we create, the potential risks for side effects will always be a concern. There is just no way around that true fact. I think we should continue to look at as much data as we can and then start creating a pill and experimenting,” Travis argued.

“Trust me, I get that part, Travis. I've been doing this kind of work for more than fifteen years. I want us to take our time with this and play it safe. I don't want to put something in a pipeline that's going to fail. One step at a time. I like to do things by the book, understood?”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Travis said, with a hint of impatience in his voice.

Jasmine tilted her head slightly. “Come on now, Travis. You know this isn't an exact science, and it takes years of research and testing before a product is approved for the market.”

“I understand that and I'm sorry if I seem a little agitated or aggressive. I suppose that I want my moment in the spotlight to arrive sooner rather than later.”

“Don't sell your brilliance to a pawnshop of chemistry for a short-lived moment in the spotlight. Trust me when I say it's not all that it's cracked up to be.” Jasmine gave him a few words of wisdom.

“I'll remember that,” Travis said with a smile.

“Good,” Jasmine said as she looked at her watch. “Jesus. It's twelve-thirty p.m. I can't believe we've been at this for three-and- a-half hours.”

“That doesn't surprise me. Sometimes I'm so engrossed in my work that an entire week can go by.” Travis laughed nervously.