Chapter 27

I sat down at the table across from Ella. My back was to the rest of the bar, but for the time being we were the only two in the building, so I didn’t care. Ella was my focus. For a moment we both sat there, not talking. It was different from every other time I sat down with a woman to talk. She usually had something to say. Now, however, I was being treated like I had done something wrong and I should damn well know what it was. Unfortunately, the only clue I had about that was that she thought all male Magi thought the same way. Yes, eventually, I would have to get between her legs, but that was because of the ritual. Then I remembered something else she said. It was something that changed my perspective of her outrage. She wasn’t angry, she was disappointed.

“Are you going to talk to me?” I asked. It was probably not the best way to start the conversation. By the very question alone, it suggested there would not be a conversation.

She looked at me. No, glared at me. Again, I got that feeling that I had erred in some horrendous way.

I shook my head. “If you don’t talk to me, I’m going to end up talking to myself. That’s not a pretty picture, believe me.”

She rolled her eyes and by the rise and drop of her breasts, she had let out a soft sigh too. Nope, joking wasn’t going to break the ice.

I sat back and tried to get comfortable in my leathers. I had been fairly comfortable during the ride here, during the face-off with the Syndicate, and while talking to the members of House Tucanae. Between the leather and the soft lining, I was even warm. Now, for some reason, my leathers felt itchy. Maybe they weren’t meant to be worn this long. It was probably a little surprise from Shondra to help me with my personal squabbles about being a Magus.

Ella looked at me as I squirmed in my chair. There was something there, something she wanted to say, but that would conflict with her rule of not talking to me.

I kept squirming, both because I wasn’t sure what I would have to do to get comfortable again and in the hopes of drawing out Ella’s comment. Anything to give me something to work with.

She rolled her eyes again. “Why don’t you take off the jacket, or at least open it up so you can breathe?”

I hadn’t thought of that. I reached up and released the first button. Ella watched my hands on the buttons. She wasn’t interested in seeing me undressed, was she? I released the other two and I felt a little better. Ella, on the other hand, still looked disappointed.

“I don’t get you, Ella,” I said when I looked up at her. “You weren’t afraid to argue over my reasons for being here, but now you don’t say a word. Don’t you want to continue berating me over how pathetic I am for being here?”

She met me square in the eyes then. “Yes, you are pathetic for being here.” She waved a hand at me. “You dressed formally yet you don’t have anything to offer potential recruits.”

I studied her expression, her posture, and her chosen outfit. Surely, she wasn’t talking about what I thought she was talking about, was she? She was a Magus, and though I had met a number of them in the last few days, I had yet to meet one who had superficial standards. I had to meet one sooner or later. “How about being a bit more candid, shall we?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

She stared at me, her eyes widening a bit and she cocked her head to the side. “You really want me to say it out loud?”

I blinked at her. The absurdity of the situation was killing me. “We’re alone. Who’s going to hear you?”

She blinked and looked around. Then she shrugged and sat up straight. Her posture made her look like she was thrusting her breasts out at me instead. “You’re pants are tight enough that if you had a big enough dick to offer a woman then it would show.”

I sat there, staring at her. Yeah, she did mean what I thought she did. It was ludicrous alright. She wasn’t upset that I was here to recruit someone or that I needed help to end the Lockdown. It wasn’t the question of whether or not I actually pulled the trigger and killed Lord Fanelli. No, she was upset because she thought I wasn’t packing enough meat. Worse, my pants were uncomfortable, and not in the fun way.

She looked up and then away. She couldn’t meet my eyes after what she said. I had never met a Magus who was ever embarrassed to talk about sex. Or did she now believe that she was going to be forced to have sex with someone whom she believed to not have what she wanted?

It was such a simple yet not-so-simple thing. How could I possibly prove that I had more than what she thought I had? Well, to do that, I had to know how big she thought I was, which would be fun. “You said that my pants are tight enough that I should be showing off what I have to offer, yes?” I asked and squirmed in my seat.

She nodded without looking at me. “Yes.”

“You do realize how that sounds, right?” I asked.

She turned her head slowly, accompanied by a long lingering blink of her eyes. “It makes me sound shallow, like all I’m interested in is your size. You’re almost too young for my taste, but if you had more tucked away in your pants, then I could possibly look past that issue.”

“So then, you don’t have an issue with the fact that I need your help with the Lockdown, or whether or not I killed Lord Fanelli?” I asked. I was still a little shocked by this.

She looked at me finally. “Let me ask you something. If I looked different. Say I was flat chested, or was old enough to be your grandmother, would you still be interested in having me as your Stirpe?”

The first thing I wanted to say was, “It didn’t matter,” but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I tried to imagine the combination of possibilities: a much, much older lady with no curves at all sitting across from me, and the idea simply turned me off. Then I changed things up. First, I saw her again without the bulging bosom. She was beautiful even without the boobs. I wouldn’t have an issue with that. Then I tried seeing her as a much older version of herself, someone with grandkids. Even with the impressive breasts, I couldn’t imagine sex with her. So, the age thing was an issue, and maybe I wasn’t as breast-obsessed as I thought. Finally, I nodded. “You’re partially right. A huge age difference would force me to look for someone else, even if you were still packing the girls.”

“But you don’t need me to be top heavy?” she asked, arching her back and thrusting out her breasts.

I let my eyes linger on her cleavage for a few seconds and then looked up to meet her eyes. “It’s not your breasts that are going to help me end the Lockdown.”

She ran a finger along the edge of her top where her breast bulged out. “Admit it though, they are nice.”

I watched her finger and had to adjust my pants for comfort. I nodded. “Yes, they are.”

“So, compared to the other women you’ve met from House Tucanae, do you find me more appealing because of my breasts?”

I frowned. “This isn’t a matter of whether I find your breasts pleasant nor not,” I said, having to adjust other areas of my pants to make them comfortable, and not in the fun way. “I need to know what I have to do or say to convince you to help me with the Lockdown.”

She took a deep breath, making her breasts appear to swell. “Helping you isn’t the problem,” she said. “It’s what happens after the Lockdown ends that worries me.”

I hadn’t really thought that far ahead myself. “Such as?” I asked.

“I don’t know anything about House ... Ursae, was it?” she asked and I nodded. “I don’t even know if I want to join your House.”

“The House is new,” I said. Under the table I unbuttoned and unzipped my pants, though I didn’t open them since I wasn’t wearing anything under them. I felt a little better, but didn’t understand what was happening. “If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.”

She smiled and nodded, which I thought was odd. “Other than Stirpi, what structure of rank do you use?”

“A couple of my Stirpi are talking to Magi they know to become Lieutenants. I don’t believe we’ve found anyone to be Guardians yet,” I said and wanted my new shoes off.

Ella nodded. “Guardians are hard to find. So, it sounds like you’re going with a standard setup. What about your location? Where are you setting up?”

Under the table, I crossed one foot over my knee to take off that boot, quietly set it on the floor, and then did the same with the other. “I live at Shadowbrook apartments, just south of UTA.”

She interlaced her fingers and laid her hands on the table. Then she eased forward and let her breasts rest on her hands. “That’s in the middle of three different Houses, one of which is House Tucanae. You didn’t mention that to the others. Why?”

“I had more important things in mind that telling them about my House,” I said, feeling discomfort running up the legs of my pants, like ants crawling along my skin. “Besides, if they wanted to know, they would have asked.”

She nodded and a soft smile creased her lips. “You said you live South of UTA. Are you a student?”

I nodded. “I’m almost finished with my first semester,” I said and couldn’t find any purchase to scratch my legs. I really didn’t want to have to take off my pants like this. What had Shondra done to me?

Ella watched me squirm. Her smile grew too, almost like she knew something that I wasn’t going to like. “Your first semester?” she asked. “Then either you’ve gotten a late start in life, or you are as young as you look.”

“I’m eighteen,” I said, not sure what to do about my pants. The itch grew worse.

“Eighteen,” she said and looked up in thought. “That is young.” Then she looked at me again. “If only you had more packed away in those tight pants.”

I blinked in confusion. Was she really that size-obsessed or was she trying to find out something else? I couldn’t imagine what, and the itch in my pants wasn’t helping, especially now that it had moved up along my butt, and my back. Whatever was happening, it was spreading.

Ella looked me over. “Is something wrong? You look flushed.”

I shook my head. “I think Shondra put something in my clothes. They’re getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute.”

“Interesting,” she said, her smile widening. “But even if you were to strip down to your underwear, you would still not impress me.”

I pulled at the black t-shirt I wore. “Other than the leathers, and this t-shirt, there is nothing else.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Oh, then you are in a bind.”

I studied her face. She certainly knew something. Then an idea hit me. If Shondra had done something to this set of clothes, why had it set in so soon after I put them on? Last night at House Volantis, I didn’t have any problems with my clothes for over four hours. In fact, I was enthused to undress last night by Chloe’s eagerness to have sex, not by my clothes. Besides, what could Shondra possibly put in my clothes to make them so uncomfortable that I’d want to take them off? I could see her using magic to do that, but she didn’t have access to her power under the Lockdown. So, I had to conclude that Shondra didn’t do anything to my clothes. I leaned forward in my seat. “Tell me, Ella. Do you have an innate ability?”

Her smile became glorious. “Why yes. Yes I do.”

“And would that innate ability have anything to do with making my clothes uncomfortable?” I asked.

She tried to pout, but it was ruined by the smile that she couldn’t seem to stifle. “It would indeed.”

I frowned at her. “Fine.” I stood up. “If you really wanted to see what I’m packing,” I said, as I took off the jacket and dropped it on the floor. “All you had to do was ask,” I said, as I pushed off my pants and kicked them away. Even my t-shirt was itchy, so I pulled it off too, which left me as naked as a newborn baby.

Ella’s eyes drifted down over me and then stopped. Her eyebrows rose as she took in what was no longer packed away. “Well,” she said and then swallowed. “It would seem I misjudged you.” And she wiggled her hips in her chair. “Tell me one thing,” she said, with a small smile and a lick of her lips. “After we do this, how often would I be required to visit your bed?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Really?” I asked. “You see me in all my glory and suddenly you’re a lot more willing to help me with the Lockdown?”

She looked up into my eyes. “I told you, I don’t mind helping with the Lockdown. It’s what comes after that I’m more concerned with.”

I dropped my arms and stepped around the table so she would have a better view. I was already filled out enough thanks to the furtive displays of her cleavage to keep me from being completely flaccid, but I wasn’t pointing anywhere but at the floor at the moment due to the fading discomfort from my clothes. “Why the questions about my House? Why worry about the structure or where it’s located?”

She stared right at my crotch and her breathing deepened. “I wanted to know.” Then she leaned toward me. She didn’t touch me, but she put her nose very close to me. I could feel the heat of her exhalation. It made me fill out more. She rolled her eyes up to look at mine. “Besides, it gave my innate ability enough time to make you so uncomfortable I could see you as you are.”

“Then you really were concerned with my size,” I said.

She smiled that glorious smile again. “I never said that I wasn’t.” She looked me over again. “I didn’t like the idea of giving myself over to someone who couldn’t reach the itchy places I have. It looks like you’ll reach them and then some.”

I wasn’t sure if I had been outsmarted or simply taken for the sex. The former both excited and bothered me. I was excited because she was smart enough to pull it off, which made me fill out more and start to rise. I was bothered because if she could outsmart me, it proved that Valory might do so as well. The latter excited me because I liked my girls to be forward sexually. That made me rise more as well, which made me bump her chin.

Ella looked down at my rising erection. She oohed and awed, which provided more warm air and encouraged me to swell until I was pointed almost horizontally. Ella’s smile was gone. Her eyelids were heavy and she kept licking her lips. With a glance up to my face, she leaned forward and rubbed her cheek along my glans. She swiped her lips, moist and soft, over my tip, and then rubbed the other cheek against me.

I grew impatient. I reached out, cupped her jaw, and guided her warm, wet mouth to my crown. She opened up, accepted me and closed her eyes as I slid into her mouth, stopping only when I bumped into the back of her throat.

Ella gulped a couple of times before I pulled back. “Mm, Lord Connors,” she said with a playful tone. “Are you always this direct with what you want?”

I think I understood where this was going. It wasn’t enough for me to have the proper offering for her to enjoy, I had to want this enough to take it if need be. I could be direct, but to me there was a distinct line between being direct and simply taking what I wanted. My girls enjoyed it when I was direct with them. Katrina enjoyed it when I simply took of her what I wanted. To me, the distinction lies in the words I use. Asking to do something or letting them know that I wanted to do something was direct. Doing it without saying anything was taking.

I stepped back from Ella. “I apologize for that,” I said. “I should have at least said something, so you would have the opportunity to turn me away if you wished.”

She smiled her glorious smile. “If I didn’t want you to do that,” she said and then clamped her teeth together, making a sharp chomp sound. “I would have impressed the idea on you.”

I nodded. “Understood.” Then I studied her face and posture. “Is there anything in particular I should avoid being so direct about?”

She looked pointed at my throbbing erection. “For today, I think you should avoid my ass.” Then she looked up. “It’ll give me the chance to get ready for you.”

I nodded. Erica was the only woman I knew who could take all of me anally the first time we had sex.

Ella reached out and drew me to her again. She ran her hand along my length and then asked, “So, are you this direct with your Fonti?” Then she slid her lips over my crown, and pulled me in until I bumped her throat again. She kept me there, using her tongue to do all sorts of things under and around me. It even felt as if she had wrapped her tongue around me a couple of times. It was incredible.

I had a bit of trouble focusing while she used her oral talents. She noticed that I wasn’t answering her question and pulled me out of her mouth with a loud slurp. “Don’t tell me you’re this easily distracted from speaking coherently.” Then she pulled me into her mouth again.

Easily distracted, yeah. Kept from speaking coherently? Not usually while one of my girls held me as such. I looked down at her, only really able to see her shoulders and the way her butt projected back into her chair. I looked up and closed my eyes again. It was distracting, not being able to see her eyes as I spoke. Finally I focused on her question and said, “I’m actually quite giving when it comes to my Fonti. I do my best to give them what they want, because I know it’ll make them happy. And when they’re happy, I’m happy.”

She pulled me from her mouth again with a similar slurp. She stroked me, smearing her saliva along my length. “Good philosophy,” she said. “But sometimes, I’m sure you want something specific.” Then she looked up. One of her hands dropped to the deep line of cleavage her top forced her breasts to make. “You’ve been staring at my tits since we sat down. Is there something you’d like to do with them?”

At my angle, I could see the dents her nipples made in the fabric. The material was too dark to see them from across the table. If her nipples were as big as I hoped, then there were several things I would love to do. “Is this something I should simply take or express my desire for?” I asked in return.

She smiled and straightened her back. Her top did an impressive job of reigning in her mounds of flesh. She bulged not only upward, but down too. I wondered if she might be too tight for what I had in mind.

I spread my legs and lowered my hips. I ran the tip of my glans along her cleavage, leaving a wet line where her saliva transferred from me to her. Then I dropped further and pressed my crown into her under-cleavage. I held her breasts with my hands covering the silky material of her top, and pressed myself up between her tightly clamped boobs. There was just enough give that I was able to worm my way up, up, up, until I peeked out of the top of her cleavage.

Ella grinned up at me. “Impressive, but you don’t leave much room for movement.”

I nodded and released the only button holding her top closed. Her breasts sprang free, spilling out into my waiting hands. Not only was the extraordinary amount of breast flesh released from her top, but Ella took a deep breath too. Maybe wearing it had made breathing difficult to begin with.

“Why wear something so restrictive it makes it difficult to breath?” I asked, feeling a touch naïve.

She smiled that glorious smile again. “It encourages me to take off my top, no matter where I am or who is about.”

“A bit of an exhibitionist?” I asked, gently rolling my hips so I would slowly thrust myself up through her cleavage and back again.

She ran her fingernails up along the backs of my thighs. “A bit. I like to show off my breasts mostly. I think they’re my best quality.”

I shook my head. “You have many good qualities.”

She smiled again and licked her lips. “For that, I think I’ll take this a step further.” Then she looked down, tucked in her chin, parted her lips, grabbed my butt cheeks, and pulled me up through her soft cleavage and into her waiting mouth.

The only way this could be any better is if she were laying down with me straddling her. As it was, I quickly felt my orgasm rolling closer. I didn’t see any reason to hold back, but I was sure there was a difference between being direct and trying to drown her.

Even though we were getting along better, I still wasn’t sure about her full intentions. For all I knew, she was willing to have an exchange of fluids, but nothing more. I had to know what she really wanted, now and after we dealt with the Lockdown.

I slowed my thrusting and eased up my hold on her breasts. She released me from her mouth and looked up, licking her lips. “Don’t tell me a little tit play and tongue action and you’re already close to popping your cork?”

I shook my head. “You’ve played a magnificent game today, Ella, but I really do need to know: are you in this all the way or are we just going to have a bit of fun?”

“Coy words,” she said. “I thought you didn’t want to beat around the bush?”

I nodded and stepped back. “You’re right. Either we’re in agreement that we’re performing the ritual for you to become my Stirpe, or I get dressed – no matter how itchy my clothes are – and I go find someone else.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” she said and let her eyes drift over me. “I never thought I would agree to be anyone’s Stirpe, but if I’m to help you, then that is what must be.” She looked up and met my gaze again.

I stared back at her. If there was anyone in my House that I would have to keep an eye on, it would be Ella. I didn’t like the idea of having anyone in my House that I couldn’t completely trust, but then again, hadn’t I been given my status as House Lord by a Magus who had been hell-bent on taking my power for her own? Trust wasn’t the issue. Ella was willing to bind herself to me to help end the Lockdown. I had to accept that at face value. If she decided to change our agreement later, I would deal with it then. “I’m sure we can work out something both of us can agree to.”

She stood up, pulling her top off by the sleeves. She dropped it on the chair she had been sitting in and then reached behind herself and unzipped her skirt. She had to hook her thumbs under the waist band and push her panties off her hips because they were too tight to fall on their own. She stood in only her heels and then stepped over to the table. She sat on it, leaned back on it, and spread her legs to show me everything she had. “I think, at this point the only thing we can both agree on is that we both want to fuck.”

I looked her over as she had done me so many times already, and then stepped closer. She was right. We were both in the mood for what was to come. I just had to make sure it went the way I needed it to go.

I focused on her, trying to envision her mood, emotions, desires, and other attributes. They came to me like a floating ball of multi-colored string. The strings were lit up like neon lights that moved, and each one represented a different emotions, sensations, and desires. The complexity was greater than anything I had seen before, and I knew if I didn’t do this right, more could go wrong than only me becoming her Stirpe.

I knew I couldn’t unravel the ball. The weave of all those strands was too intricate. However, pulling on one strand caused others to tighten or loosen. A tug here and there and Ella was rolling her hips up at me. She didn’t say anything, but I could see she was more excited to be here than when I first walked in.

I stepped up to her, and she immediately reached for me. She wrapped a hand around my shaft and guided me straight to her moist folds. She rubbed my glans along her lips, smearing her juices all over me. Then she tucked me down to her entrance and a touch of her fingers told me she wanted me to push.

I eased forward, my crown driving through the tight embrace of her entrance. Once past that, I stopped and pulled back. I kept it shallow. Sure she might like my size, but that didn’t mean she was completely ready for me.

For a few more strokes, I kept it shallow. I watched not only her physical reactions – the way she rolled her hips at me, how she groped her own breasts, and fact that she closed her eyes – but the ways her tangled ball of neon threads responded too. She was certainly enjoying this.

I came to an idea as I watched those strands. She wasn’t opposed to me going for what I wanted physically, so what was to stop me from pushing things along with Magic?

I focused on those neon threads. I didn’t want to tie her up in knots, that would be going too far, but I wanted her to both enjoy what was happening and be driven for more until the ritual was finished. It was a simple concept. I held it in my mind, applied my Will, and let my power flow.

I watched the neon threads tug and shift in complex patterns. No knots formed, and quite quickly, the tangle they formed became untangled. The different threads tugged at her, manipulated her in ways I hadn’t conceived of, and I felt her grope at me in ways no woman had before.

I looked down at her and found her looking at me. She held out her arms to me, her breasts gathered up between them. It was a posture of invitation and I was too astonished by her change to decline.

I leaned over her, driving myself deeper, and she pulled my face to her breasts. Her legs wrapped around me and her heels dug into my butt, pulling me further into her.

“God, you’re so deep!” she said. Her voice almost sounded hoarse due to her heavy breathing.

I raised my head enough to look up at her face. Her eyes were closed again. She was one big sensation. Everything I did went straight to her core, sending her closer to the edge. I looked down and found her nipples, hard and red. I licked one and she shuddered under me. I lightly sucked on the other and she squeezed my hips with her thighs.

I shifted to lean on my elbows and used my hands to push her nipples together. Then I ran my tongue over both of them and did my best to suck on both at the same time.

Ella cried out. She pulled my head down and I didn’t have the strength or leverage to fight her, so I took a quick, deep breath, sucked both nipples into my mouth and worked them over while driving myself through her velvety wet muscles.

Ella relaxed in fits and spasms. She wasn’t done giving me her power, but it wouldn’t take much more. It seemed she didn’t have a lot of power to give. It would make for a shorter ritual than with Chloe, Dana, or Emma.

Ella’s arms fell away from my head with boneless flops. Her legs, however, remained where they were, keeping me buried deep inside of her.

“Are we finished yet?” she asked.

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “Not quite.”

She opened her eyes and focused on me. “Good.” Then she pushed at my chest and let me go.

I stepped back as she sat up.

She pointed at the chair I had been sitting in. “Sit down. I get to be on top now.”

I moved over to the chair and sat in it.

She stood for a moment, holding the table as if she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her. Then she stepped toward me. We reached for each other and I helped her into the chair.

The chair wasn’t really designed for what she had in mind. I caught enough of her memories to know what she wanted to do and the spell she used to adjust the shape of the chair for it. Taking it a bit further, I decided to reshape the chair into a lounger that was wide enough for what she had in mind. With my Intent and Will focused, I released my Power.

The arms of the chair spread out. Padding inflated under and behind me, not to mention to either side. The seat lengthened under my legs and the back leaned back.

Ella held onto me as the changes occurred. Once finished, there was enough room so her knees had someplace to comfortably settle.

Leaning back as I was, I admired the way her breasts rode her chest as well as how her hard, red nipples pointed out to either side of my face. I was tempted to reach up and feel her breasts again, but I didn’t think she was ready for that just yet, so I waited until the neon threads suggested she was.

She reached behind herself, grabbed me, and then rose up to take me in again. I watched as she eased down on me until her round bottom settled on my lap. She laid her hands on my chest and let her nails drag down over me as she rolled her hips. “Damn, you are deep,” she said and then looked me in the eyes. “Just where I need you.” Then she leaned forward, rubbed her breasts against my chest, and brushed her lips over mine.

Of all the things I expected from Ella, a kiss was not one of them. Her lips settled on mine and then there was a quick, wet lick of her tongue. I returned the quick lick. She shuddered over me, all the way down to my lap, and squeezed me. She liked that. I couldn’t see her threads, but her physical response was difficult to ignore. I licked her lips again. On the next lick, she met my tongue with her own. Mine slipped into her mouth and she quickly sucked it in further. At the same time, she ground down on my hips.

I didn’t know what it was about kissing her, but she was suddenly very happy to have me in her as she had been on the table. Her hips rolled and rocked against mine. Her hands moved up and held my head in place, and her mouth sucked on my tongue like it was a really tasty Lolli-pop.

I closed my eyes and focused on her neon threads. Using me to get off was the goal and I needed to know just how close she was because the same stimuli was about to throw me off my own orgasmic cliff.