Chapter 16

I went to the bathroom to clean up a little and fetch a warm washcloth to wash Leanne with. The apartment was very quiet and I heard the front door open. There wasn't a knock, and no one called out. It was likely to be Danielle or Jordan, but I didn't believe either of them would have just walked in. Unless...

I went back out to the bedroom. Jordan was standing in the doorway leading to the living room wearing a silk robe and nothing under it but the same bra she'd been wearing all day and a matching pair of panties. Her eyes were focused on something far away. Behind her, Danielle looked into the room at me. She shrugged but didn't say anything. I looked over at Leanne. She got up off the bed with the same expression as Jordan's and walked toward me. I turned and ducked back into the bathroom. It had doors leading to both the bedroom and living room and I took the second door, hoping to put a little distance between us so I could talk to Danielle before the ritual started.

I moved to the middle of the living room, gave Danielle an apologetic look, and waited for the ritual to begin. She simply stood in the kitchen and watched patiently. Jordan and Leanne, standing behind and in front of me respectively, floated up and began spinning around me. Leanne stopped in front of me, her large bust at face level, and the amber streak appeared.

Leanne was a virgin. Even with her incredible bust, she hadn't ever had sex. She did away with her maidenhead after her period started, but no boy had ever even gotten to second base with her. Several claimed to have, lying to their friends, but when word of those lies reached Leanne, she would verbally tear those boys down in front of everyone.

There was one boy though, Jack Mayfield. They dated for a time and she felt different about him. She couldn't explain it to herself, but he made her feel all tingly inside in ways the other boys made her feel indignant. She liked kissing him and even let him feel her breasts one time. However, before she could gather up the courage to go further, he moved away.

The trouble was she wanted to have sex. She wanted to know what it was like, but not in the back seat of some boy's car. That wasn't romantic. She ended up finishing high school with her virginity intact. Not a difficult feat but not necessarily a goal she wanted either.

College was worse. The girls in the dorms stared at her with something akin to resentment, and everywhere else guys fell all over themselves. The attention at home hadn't been that bad, because in the small town school, most of the kids had known her for a few years at least. Making friends was not going to be easy.

Worse still, she hadn't been able to get into the school she wanted. Her parents made enough money to pay for college, but they couldn't afford the more prestigious institutes she had her heart set on. They talked about it and Leanne came up with her own plan for getting what she wanted. She'd get a Business Management degree and work to pay for her own schooling as a clothing designer. She might even find a company willing to help pay for school. Her parents agreed that it was a good plan, if ambitious since she was going to be getting two degrees.

Classes were tough, especially with all of the other students' staring. Leanne was sure some of the Professors weren't entirely professional either. Three weeks after classes started, she was running a little behind in getting to English and she was almost bowled over by one of the guys from the class. She had a sharp retort ready for his inevitable further transgression, but he did something she never expected. He looked up in her eyes without stopping to look her over first. He apologized, catching her off guard, opened the door and waved her through.

"Be still my beating heart."

Leanne couldn't get the look in his eyes out of her head. Class was almost a fog and when Professor Swafford asked the only question she didn't know, it was the same guy, the one with the compassionate eyes, who answered. Like the rest of the class, she looked back at him, and something deep inside told her that he was different. "God, I hope he's not gay," she thought. She turned her attention, what she could of it, back to the Professor.

When class was over, she decided to find out whether her encounter with him had been a fluke or if he was the real deal. She walked up to him while he was still bent over putting his things in his backpack. He looked up and met her eyes again and she felt like she could do back flips. She asked him about the question he had answered and was pretty sure he lied about getting it wrong in high school which she didn't understand at all. She didn't get the chance to point it out because the creep, Neil, asked her to lunch.

She looked at Neil and saw his eyes linger on her chest too long. She knew he wouldn't settle for lunch at the UC. She turned him down politely and he left without any trouble.

She confided in Seth, "I don't actually have a class for another hour. I just didn't want to go with him. He gives me the creeps." Then she asked to walk with Seth. He had another class but agreed to walk her out.

Seth continued to give her eyes his full attention. She couldn't believe what was happening. She had found a real gentleman. She considered walking with him to his next class, but decided she should probably head to her dorm instead. She didn't want to chance running into Neil again.

Other than her lingering thoughts of Seth, the next day was rather normal. Classes passed by and then she had to work. Mr. Finnegan was in a worse mood than ever and barked at everyone, whether there was anything wrong or not. She was determined not to let him get to her today. After her break, she was on her way back to the registers, and one of the customers, a woman who looked like she had a bust as big as her own and didn't have any qualms about showing it off, commented on her apron. Her name was Jordan, and they quickly got into a discussion of the problems of finding correctly fitting shirts and blouses.

To Leanne's surprise, she saw Seth walking toward them. Leanne couldn't believe her luck, both good and bad. He was just as respectful, just as kind, but Leanne was standing next to someone who didn't mind flaunting. There was no way Seth would want to be with her when the other woman was obviously more comfortable with her own body and extremely gorgeous on top of that.

Seth was as cool as before. He smiled and talked like he wasn't standing next to two of the bustiest girls in town. The only reason those sorts of thoughts crossed her mind was because of the open frankness Jordan had spoken about their respective breasts.

Leanne realized Seth and Jordan knew one another, but Mr. Finnegan showed up and pulled her away. Unlike his previous grousing when nothing was wrong, he had honestly caught her doing something she shouldn't. She was busted. What upset her most though was the fact that he was so short it was like he had the perfect excuse to stare at her breasts. She couldn't accuse him of that but she could hit him in another sore spot. She quit, and made sure he understood why.

She left to change, and suddenly wished that she hadn't worn the loose blouse. She wanted to look as sexy as Jordan for Seth. She wanted him to notice her, to see that she wasn't a frump. She wanted to show him just what she could offer.

Talking to Seth and Jordan, she knew there was something between them, even though Jordan said there wasn't. She could see how comfortable they were with each other. She had seen that same comfort between some of the long term couples in her high school. More than that, Jordan seemed to know Leanne liked Seth. While they watched him return the cart, Jordan told her how much Seth liked her too though he might not act like it. He was a very private person. Jordan didn't get to say more though and Leanne wanted to ask questions.

Leanne enjoyed talking to Seth. He made her feel so comfortable and when she accused him of being gay, he didn't throw a fit or get angry. He simply challenged her reasoning. And when he got closer to her, she tingled in places boys had never made her tingle in before.

When she went up to her room, she stripped down to her bra and panties in front of her roommate, Erica, which she had never done before. She found her tightest shorts and the blouse she had made that was really too small. Those were more in tune with her need for Seth to notice her and she didn't care what anyone said or did in the interim.

Erica never said a word, but she was smiling and humming while working on her school work. Leanne thought her silence was odd. She usually asked about Leanne's day and tried to talk about hers, but all she did was smile and say, "Hi." Obviously something good had happened to her too. Leanne was tempted to ask, but decided not to since Seth was waiting for her.

Leanne threw some extra clothes and makeup in a bag, grabbed her backpack and left, determined to make this a night to remember.

I woke up lying on the living room floor. No one else was around but I heard voices coming from my bedroom. I got up and tried the door. It was locked. I tried the bathroom door. It was open, but the door leading to the bedroom was also locked. I heard someone say, "Seth must be awake."

I listened but didn't hear anything else. The door opened and Danielle came out, closing the door behind her. The bathroom wasn't the right place for talking so we went out to the living room. I turned to face the redhead. She was in a pair of lacy shorts and a matching lose-fit top. None of it was see through, but it looked really nice on her. I had to refrain from commenting though because there was a bigger issue to discuss. "What's going on?"

Danielle shook her head. "It's Leanne. She's ... upset."

"Upset about what?" I asked. "Was it the memories?"

Danielle snorted. "No. She's confused and doesn't believe she really saw your memories."

"What do you mean? What does she think happened?" I asked.

"She thinks you drugged her," Danielle said.

I blinked at the redhead. "Drugged her? With what?"

She shrugged. "A hallucinogen of some kind. She said it must have been in the wine cooler."

I sighed. "That's crazy."

"I know," Danielle said matter-of-factly. "Jordan and I finished it off to prove that there was nothing wrong with it."

I glanced at the door.

Danielle touched my chest. "Seth, where's you fetish?"

I nodded at the bedroom. "In there, in my pants pocket."

"So, you didn't use it to bind her?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, I ... I had this sudden clear memory of how to bind without the fetish. I wasn't planning on binding her, but after I recalled what Raven told me about the spell, I wondered if the Magic was trying to tell me something."

"Magic is a tool, isn't it? It can't talk," she said.

I nodded. "I thought the same thing, and I still believe for the most part that it's true, but yesterday Jordan told me something while she was teaching me the Luck spell. She told me sometimes when she did that with the scratch offs, she'd get the same amount of money back. She said she'd take that as a sign that she needed the money for something else, that it was a sign from her Magic."

Danielle frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"Well, just like my recollection of the Binding spell, I remembered that discussion with Jordan too. I really think something was trying to tell me I was supposed to bond with Leanne."

Danielle stared at me. "So, you bound her without the fetish?"

I shrugged. "We shared memories just like I did with all of you. I'd say I did."

The bedroom door opened. Jordan waved us in. I was still nude, but all three of them were dressed to one degree or other. I went straight to my discarded pants and slipped them on. The girls had put out the candles and turned on the overhead light again. I could see everything in the stark light.

Leanne was dressed and curled up at the head of my bed from where she watched me. Her eyes were red and fresh tears had streaked her face with wet lines. Jordan sat on the bed between us but off to the side closest to the door to the living room. Danielle moved past me and sat on the other side of the bed in the same way.

Rather than move closer to Leanne so I could sit on the bed too, I sat on the floor with my back against the wall. We could all see each other.

"Seth, this is your bed," Danielle said. "You're allowed to sit on it too."

I shook my head and looked at Leanne. "I don't want to spook you anymore than you already are."

Jordan shook her head but Danielle nodded. Jordan said, "Seth, you're going to have to prove to her that you are a Magus."

I looked at her for a moment, wanting to ask how. Without casting a spell and possibly spooking Leanne more, maybe even reinforcing her idea that she had been hallucinating, there wasn't much I could do. I decided instead to focus on the details of Leanne's misconception. I looked at the scared young woman. "Leanne, what did you see?"

"Seth..." Jordan said and I held up my hand.

Leanne looked from me to Jordan and back. "What do you mean?"

"You woke up in the living room, but remember being in here last. You don't know how you moved from one room to the other, right?" I asked and she nodded. "During that blank time in your memory, you got up and followed me out to the living room. You also had a dream of sorts. Tell me about that, about the dream."

She frowned and looked at each of us. Then she said, "It was weird and ... and ... disgusting."

"But what did you see?" I asked softly.

She blinked and touch of color filled her face. She nodded at Jordan and said, "Her at a pool party." She nodded at Danielle and said "And her in a car." Then she shook her head, saying, "And like a dozen other women." She looked at me with a glare. "I was having sex with them. I even saw my roommate, Erica. We were in the store she works at. And it was like I had a ... a..."

I nodded. "Like you had a penis."

She nodded and hugged herself. "I don't know what you gave me..."

"Leanne," I said, maintaining a reasonable tone. "What you saw and felt seemed real, didn't it?"

"But it didn't happen," she said, shaking her head. "It couldn't have. I don't have a ... a ... penis." She was almost in tears again.

"On the latter, I agree with you one hundred percent," I said.

She stared at me and knew what I meant. She blushed. "But it had to be a hallucination."

I shook my head I wasn't going to convince her from her point of view. Her explanation was more plausible than the truth. "What would you say if I saw a bunch of your memories?"

She glanced at Jordan and Danielle. "That's not possible."

"Just answer the question," I said with a shrug. "What would you think of me seeing some of your memories?"

"Well," she said, looking petulant. "You'd know I've never had sex with anyone."

I nodded. "You're right. I do know that. I also know that three boys from your school all claimed that they had sex with you, Tommy Simpson, Billy McMillen, and Steve Adams."

She stared at me. "How do you know that?"

"I also know that only one boy ever got to touch your breasts before me, Jack Mayfield," I said. "You really liked him, but he moved away."

She sat up straight with wide eyes. "How do you know that?"

I got up on my knees at the foot of the bed. "Because, Leanne, I saw your memories. I felt them as if it all happened to me."

Her breathing got heavier. "Oh my God ... Oh my God, you've been with all those women?"

"I told you," I said, shaking my head. "I don't talk about that."

"You just seemed way too comfortable, way too good ... so very good," she said, not really focusing on our conversation anymore.

I climbed up on the edge of the bed. "Leanne, we shared memories. Do you believe me?" She was still mumbling. I crawled closer. "Leanne, did you hear me?" She looked up at me. I held out my hand and she stared at it. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll take you home if you want me to."

"No," Jordan said. "You can't take her home. Not yet."

I looked at her. "Why not?" I asked with a reasonable tone.

She shook her head. "Let me talk to Raven. She might know why Leanne is acting this way."

I nodded. "Okay, but hurry."

She nodded and left the room.

Leanne reached out and touched my face. I turned to look at her. She didn't look scared anymore. "You feel good," she said softly.

I didn't understand her shifting emotions. I had never seen any of my girls act this way. I crawled up and sat next to her. She ran her hand over my bare chest. "Wow, you feel really good," she said.

Danielle and I shared a curious look.

Leanne leaned away from me and pulled her top off. She hadn't put her bra back on. She was instantly topless, which she apparently wanted, and crushed her huge breasts into my side. "Oh, yes. You feel very good."

I had to admit, it felt good touching her too, but all I did was cuddle with her.

Leanne looked up. "I'm thirsty."

I glanced at Danielle and said, "I don't have any glasses."

Danielle scooted off the bed. "Be right back."

I nodded. Leanne leaned in and kissed my neck.

Jordan came back in, holding out her phone to me. "Raven needs to talk to you."

I took the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Seth. Jordan tells me something is wrong with one of your Fonti?" Raven said with an impish tone.

I glanced at Jordan. "I bound Leanne without the fetish."

"Really?" Raven asked with lots of interest. "How many times did you get through the phrase?"

"Once," I said, "barely."

"One full time?" she asked, as if it was important.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, did you have intercourse?" she asked.

I was confused but said, "Uh ... no."

"No?" she asked.

I decided to clarify. "If you mean whether my penis entered her vagina, no. Why does it matter?"

"Without the fetish as a focal point, the spell may not take hold properly," she said.

The bond hadn't taken hold properly? It sounded like it was supposed to do something more than allow us to be closer, just like I had suspected over the last two days. I realized this was the best time to ask what I had wanted to know about the bond. "So, the bond doesn't just heighten how much we're physically and emotionally attracted to each other, does it?"