Chapter 4

We left Raven's house, but instead of going back to her place, Jordan drove north. I knew something was up when I saw the towers from Six Flags over Texas, one of Arlington's biggest tourist attractions. I wasn't in the mood for dealing with their rides, especially not the lines. For a wild moment, I thought Jordan was going to take me there to find someone for me to bond with. I waited, holding my breath until we passed it. She maneuvered us through traffic and got on I-30, heading west. I grew confused again. "Um ... where are we going?"

Jordan focused on driving. "To Fort Worth, so you can cash in that ticket."

There were other things that were more important at the moment. "That can wait..." I said.

She shook her head and interrupted me. "The sooner you take care of it, the sooner you'll have the money to get an apartment."

"An apartment?" I asked. "Why do I need an apartment? My dorm room is paid up through the semester."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, saying, "Dorm room," under her breath. "Do you really want to take the women you're going to bond with back to your dorm room where your roommate will likely be?"

I frowned. "Well ... no. I thought I'd go to their place if anything happens."

She snorted. "Oh, something will happen alright, and anyone you meet for the first time may not want you in their place."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking. "Then I guess I'll need money for a hotel room or something."

Jordan glanced at me. "If you had an apartment, you wouldn't have to do that, but for tonight I'm sure that'll be fine."

"Is there anything left of that fifty?" I asked.

She laughed. "Not enough for a motel room."

I sat back, silently irritated about not being able to argue with her logic. She was right. The money from the grand prize ticket would be useful, but it wouldn't last forever. If I got an apartment, I would need money to pay rent, electricity, and any other utilities, like a phone. Crap. The more I thought about it, the more it was going to cost me. I could continue to eat on campus at the UC, but I'd also need money for bus fair to get back and forth between an apartment and school. Of course, there was the possibility that the girls might be there to help with that, but I couldn't depend on them for all of my transportation needs. If I really went along with Jordan's suggestion, then I would have to find a job. I wondered if Jana needed a dishwasher at the Verve.

I also hadn't thought far enough ahead in these plans to find more Fonti to know I might need some place to take women. I had the Fetish, and though Jordan and Raven had expressed how potent they thought it was, I was still skeptical. I certainly didn't want to chance a repeat of my Initiation – having lots of people, regardless of their relationship status, age, ethnicity, or my attraction to them, coming after me for sex. I shuddered to think of what might happen if the Fetish didn't work the way I wanted it to, but I needed it to work. I didn't have the faintest clue how I would convince a woman to have sex with me otherwise.

"Why so quiet?" Jordan asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing important." Yeah. Sure. Right. Seduction wasn't important. No, not at all. I sighed.

She reached over and put her hand on mine. "I think I know."

I froze under her touch and waited for her to say what I had been thinking.

She glanced at me. "You're worried about Danielle, worried about finding more Fonti, and worried about the problems you might cause later."

I stared straight ahead. She had been close enough with the second worry, but the others were no less true. "Yeah, you could say that."

"It's not all that bad," she said. "At least you know what's happening and how to take care of it."

She was right about knowing what was wrong. I was still unsure about the solution. I couldn't understand why she thought finding more Fonti was the only correct course of action. Then a thought occurred to me. She knew so much about being a Magus because she had grown up with her mother, a powerful Magus who lived somewhere on the east coast, and had come into her own power and had to deal with many of the same issues. Why hadn't I thought of this before? "Did you go through this? Having to find more Fonti?"

She shook her head. "Even before I bound Mark and John to me, I had plenty of repeat lovers."

I knew she hadn't had a lot of power to begin with. For her, having two Fonti had been almost too much. Not only did she not have to worry about hurting them by draining too much of their life force, but she didn't need either of them close by either. She hadn't told me much about her relationship with them, but what she had told me was enough to understand that I saw her, Danielle, and Jana more than she ever saw her two former Fonti.

I also thought about the additional detail she just shared. "Then why do I need to bind anymore women to me? Why can't I do what you did?"

She looked at me. It was a look that told me I was being silly. "You don't believe you deserve me, Danielle or Jana. You would end up constantly short on sexual energy because of your lack of self-confidence."

I was relieved that she hadn't called me silly, but I frowned nonetheless. "But, that's what the Fetish is for, so I don't have to be a ... carnal tiger."

Jordan smiled. Carnal tiger was what she called me whenever I had learned something in bed from Danielle or Jana and shared it with her. "There's a difference between what you know in the bedroom and getting a woman there."

I nodded, having already come to the same conclusion, but the problem was bigger than simply seducing a woman. There was still the issue of what I could be exposing her to, the danger she would be in. To me, it was a very big issue. I simply didn't like the idea of binding any other women to me without informed consent.

"You're also worried about what could happen," Jordan said, as if reading my mind. "I told you already that with more Fonti, the risk lowers."

I nodded. Since she had flat out told me that breaking the existing bonds wasn't an option, I had to swallow my fears and bear forward.

Our conversation ate up most of the time it took to drive to Fort Worth. We found the official Texas Lotto facility easily. It looked like any other office building, except for the big sign on the front. I noticed that no one else was coming or going and wondered briefly how often they received winners, especially with the economy hurting like it was.

Jordan didn't say anything as she followed me. I was pretty sure she was simply trying to contain her excitement regarding my winning ticket, so I let her. The first thing I noticed when we walked inside was a woman sitting behind a large desk. She had shoulder-length, wavy brown hair and wore a dark blue suit jacket over a lacy blouse. She had on a head set and was talking into it. Then she looked up and froze. Even from across the lobby I could see the expression on her face and knew what it meant.

For a second I couldn't understand why she was reacting like that. She wasn't bound to me already. Only Jordan, Danielle and Jana acted like that around me, especially when I hadn't seen one of them in more than a couple of days. Jana was particularly prone to it. Then I remembered that I had my Fetish in my pocket. I turned to Jordan, pulled the fetish out and said, "Would you mind holding this for me?"

Jordan looked at me with a small smile. I could see the mirth in her eyes and that smile was the closest she could get to a straight face. She shook her head. "Nope."

I was confused. "Why not?"

"Because you need to get used to the idea that women find you attractive," she said.

"I don't have a problem with that," I said. "I don't want to cause problems because of it." I glanced toward the receptionist. "Like right now. She's still on the phone with someone but ignoring them because of me."

"How do you know she wouldn't react to you like that normally?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Because no one else ever has other than you, Danielle and Jana, and that was only because of my Initiation."

She shook her head again. "You're in denial."

I frowned at her. "What?"

"I've seen how other girls watch you on campus, when I drop you off for classes," she said. "You've never noticed because you don't expect that kind of reaction." She nodded at my hand. "Now you're aware of it because of the fetish, but that's not the reason the receptionist is staring."

I thought about that for a second, thought about the reactions around me when I moved from class to class, or even any interactions during my classes. Nothing sprang to mind.

Jordan must have understood what I was thinking about. "Seth, you're accustomed to the negative attention prior to your Initiation. Now that you're an awakened Magus, all the attention you'll get is going to be positive." She closed her hand over mine. "Keep the Fetish. You don't have to worry about it unless you put it on."

Her touch was gentle and distracting. The feel of her skin on mine was perfectly welcome and wanted. In fact, I wanted to feel more of her skin on mine. Even though we had enjoyed a little bit of fun earlier, I wanted more. Reluctantly, I pulled my hand out of hers and put the Fetish back in my pocket.

Jordan stepped back from me at that point and I was confused. "What... ?" I started to ask but then heard heels on the tiled floor approaching. The receptionist was walking toward us.

Her Jacket was matched by a business skirt and a pair of simple pumps. The outfit helped her professional appearance but didn't hide the way her hips swayed with her every step. I noticed only because her hips were wide, much wider than Jordan's. Her Jacket didn't flap or sway with her walk either. She filled it with both an abundant chest and belly. She was large. Regardless, her expression was confident. She smiled at me when I looked into her eyes and I had to admit, she had a great smile. She stopped in front of me and held out her hand to shake. "Welcome, Mr... ?"

I had to fight the urge to glance at Jordan for guidance. I gently shook her hand and said, "Connors, but please, call me Seth."

"Seth," she said, her smile widening. "I'm Maria. How can I help you today?"

She held onto my hand, so I reached around with the other to my pocket and pulled out the ticket. "I wanted to cash this in."

She let my hand go and looked at the ticket. "I believe we can help you with that," she said, smiling up at me again. "Follow me."

She turned and walked toward a doorway. I finally glanced at Jordan and she pointed at the front doors. "I'll be waiting in the car."

Great. She was going to leave me stranded inside with the receptionist. I understood that I was supposed to find women to bond with, but I didn't want to disrupt someone's work place. I thought I would pick someone at a club or something. I shook my head, not sure what to think and caught up with Maria.

In the next room, there were cubicles and people both talking on phones and working on computers. Maria took me to one of the men, though I noticed there were women closer to the doorway we had passed through. "Mark, this is Seth Connors and he's got a winning scratch off."

I held out the ticket to Mark, who didn't look much older than I did. In fact, we had the same general build, hair color, and eye color. Did Maria find him attractive? Was it more than simply me being an awakened Magus that caught Maria's eye? Who really knew?

Mark nodded. "Congratulations," he said. Then he turned to his computer and pulled up a screen. He confirmed the ticket as authentic and then asked me about a bank account the funds could be forwarded to. I didn't have one, so he said he'd have to cut me a check, which would take a few minutes. He got up and left. Maria, who stood especially close to me, smiled up at me.

I smiled back at her, being polite, and looked around the room. I noticed a few heads pop out of their respective cubicles to see what was going on, and not a single one was male.

"Do you have any plans for your winnings?" Maria asked.

I looked at her and wasn't sure what to say. The truth didn't sound so bad. "I'm a student at UTA and live in the dorm. I was thinking about using it to get an apartment so I'd have more privacy for studying."

Maria's eyes twinkled. "What are you studying?"

"Architecture," I said.

She shook her head. "I've never been good enough with math to do anything like that."

I nodded, not sure what to say. I glanced around again and thought about where we were. "How long have you worked here?"

"Almost two years," she said. "The people here are really nice and it's always great meeting people who win the lotto."

I nodded and spotted Mark walking our way. He smiled and held out the check. "Congratulations again Mr. Connors." In his other hand he held up a camera. "Do you mind? It's for publicity."

I shrugged. "Sure, no problem."

He led me over to a wall that had pictures of previous winners and a large sign over them. Maria followed us and watched. After the picture, Mark shook my hand and I noticed several other people watching us – most of them women.

Maria led me back to the entrance. When we got to the doors, she turned to me and held out her arms for a hug. I didn't see any harm so I hugged her. I was able to reach all the way around her and she was very soft. Surprisingly, she was also very large in the chest area. That aroused me and I grew a little uncomfortable. I didn't want her to think I was some kind of pervert or something. Then I felt her breath on my neck and her belly rubbed against me. She knew, and if I was right, she liked it.

Very gently, I pulled away from her. "Thank you, Maria."

The expression on her face told me she wanted to tell me "you're welcome" in a more physical way. She looked down and pulled the edge of her lacy blouse from her chest. The line of her cleavage had been barely noticeable before, but when she tugged on the material, I saw just how deep it went. She reached in and pulled out a business card. She held it out to me, looking up under long lashes. "If you have any other questions, or simply want to talk, give me a call."

I took the card and looked at it. On the front was the Texas Lotto logo with her name and the number to the front desk. On the back was a hand-written number that I could only assume was her personal cell phone.

I nodded. "Thank you again," I said and left.

Jordan had a grin on her face so big that I could see it even through the tinted windows of her car. When I got in, she asked, "Are you going to call her?"

I squirmed in my seat, fighting different urges. On one hand, I wanted to put the card into my wallet and forget about it. On the other hand, I wanted to hang it out the window and let the wind take it from me. Either way, it would free me from the guilt of having it but not calling. I realized we were still sitting in the parking lot, and Maria was still at the door watching. I pulled my wallet out and made a show of putting the card in it. I continued watching Maria and said to Jordan, "Just drive."

She laughed and pulled out of the parking space.

A few minutes later, we were back on the highway to Arlington. "So," Jordan said, breaking the silence, "why so nervous?"

I was still going over my choice in my head. I hadn't lost the card, but with it hidden in my wallet, I could easily forget about it. Out of sight, out of mind. But that bugged me even more. I finally realized Jordan had asked me a question and looked up. "I don't know. It was like..." I waved my hand toward the window. "You saw her. She was all over me."