Chapter 5: Learning

Brian and my brother were waiting for me.

I looked at the boys carefully. I decided I’d have to observe them out of the sunlight. I gave my brother a hug, and I felt a feeling of contentment. I guessed my spirit guide liked it when I was happy.

My brother and I had always got on well. Even with the age difference, I had always been conscious of being his big brother, but I had never excluded him from my games with older kids nor he me, with his friends. I had always been protective, but I also tried not to smother him.

I let him do some things that might hurt so he could learn as I had. Some lessons in life have no effect unless learned the hard way, especially for boys. I never let him do dangerous stuff, but I always explained why. My parents had done the same with me, and I had learnt that Ryan was no different to me in this respect.

I tended to be more of a loner, but I did have a couple of good mates when I grew up. I hadn’t thought much about them in the last couple of years as we had gone our separate ways after school. They knew I was a bookworm, but as long as I went out to play with them when they came over, it had never been an issue.

I had played field hockey in the winter season and cricket in the summer. I never got into football, preferring the supposedly non-contact sports. I think my martial arts training also deterred me, as I knew just how easy it was to hurt someone. I don’t think I was a particularly aggressive player, but I did play to win.

Ryan is more into physical contact than I am. I think he would have played football, but since I was already into two sports, it was easier on the oldies if he played the same ones. He did have a bit of a temper when thwarted, but he had always controlled it.

Again, I think our training let him stomp on it earlier in life rather than later. For the most part, he was a laid-back type of bloke who liked to have people around him that he cared for. I was happy he had found some good flatmates in Airlie that he got on well with.

I also suspected that Ryan would marry long before I did. He liked to make people happy, being more family oriented than I was, and he loved kids. His choice of hospitality for his career didn’t surprise me either. He was an awesome cook.

Ryan grinned at me, “Fuck, I bet you know already, don’t you?”

“Know what?” I asked.

“Cheffy’s offered me the apprenticeship. He has agreed to sign me off in three months if I pass all his tests since I’ve already done all of my TAFE (Trade training). Else, I’ll have to do another three months with him,” he told me. He had mentioned on the phone that Cheffy wanted him to cook for him when I called him the week before.

“About time. What did you cook for him? Wait, let me guess, the crab mornay for starters. Then the mushroom and medallion steaks with steamed herb and butter vegetables and then,” I trailed off and looked at his huge grin.

“You did, didn’t you? Yes, you did, you made that rum and chocolate soufflé thingy,” I said. The groan from Brian said it all. That dessert was sinful.

“He made us his taste testers,” Brian explained. I had to laugh. Brian then said, “If your brother was a sheila, I’d have fucked him stupid after that meal. I’m damn sure Shorn wanted to race him off too. Now I know why he cooks for the girls he wants to screw.”

Ryan and I both cracked up laughing. Brains statement was very true, as I knew my brother did do precisely that. He had lost his virginity even younger than I had. Mum had always made us help with the cooking and cleaning. I considered myself a passable cook, but Ryan was exceptional.

It didn’t seem to matter what Ryan tried; his cooking was always the best you had eaten. Mum had let him take over the kitchen years ago. I bet she missed him since we had been here. Dad and I had no problem with eating his cooking, except when he made his sinful desserts.

I know mum got lucky a lot when he did. I had a sneaky feeling she often encouraged him. It wasn’t as if my dad needed any encouragement when it came to racing our mum off. It was only later in life I realised my parents were a randy pair when compared to my friend’s parents.

I then had an intuitive thought. At least one of my parents must have innate magical abilities if I had them too. Ryan must also have some as it would explain why he was an exceptional cook. The book had mentioned that people who had skills could often tap into them, even if they never wore a magical item to boost them.

Ryan certainly knew how to tap into his, I decided.

I didn’t entertain Lilly that weekend.

I think she was disappointed, but then I had been honest with her. The one who surprised me was Shorn. He approached me after the other boys had headed off to work. He told me he had a female friend that wanted to get it on, with two guys.

He’d been racking his brain as to whom and so far, I was the only person that he felt comfortable sharing her with him. I asked him if he was sure. I explained that I didn’t want to screw up our friendship as I did consider him one.

If it didn’t work out, sex had a way of dividing people. The intimacy even in casual sex effects how you react to that person later. I was also not inclined to get into permanent relationships, so I needed to know if this was this a one-time thing or did, he envision it going further?

Shorn shrugged, “Toni’s says she’s not looking for a bloke. She says that she prefers sheilas most of the time, but she likes to experiment. I asked her similar questions. We have been friends for a few years, and I’d prefer not to lose her friendship either.”

I asked again about us, and he grinned. “Mate, I’d do you in a heartbeat. But I also understand that with your job you’d not be around all the time. I have no problems with you being a friend with benefits.”

“I’m not looking to settle down anytime soon either. While I find you desirable, I get the feeling from you that sex is all that you will offer anyway. Ryan has also mentioned that you don’t give your heart lightly.”

Ryan knew of my past relationship with Darren. He was probably the only one who did. He knew I’d been hurt and had invested more into the relationship than I usually did. I assumed that being hurt once was why I couldn’t settle for one partner. I wished life was that simple. Now I had the diadems to give to my partners, and I had a feeling it was going to be even harder for me.

“Friends with benefits I can handle, but I don’t do possessive. If you start assuming more, I will call it off,” I warned him.

“Wow, you’re deadly serious, aren’t you? I wonder if your ‘air of unattainable’ is what attracts us poor saps to you. I got a hard-on when you first walked into the bar last time you were home. Can you imagine my disappointment when I then recognised you as Ryan’s brother and my flatmate?”

I smiled at him. He was a nice bloke, and while not strictly my type, I had a feeling he’d work hard to please me. Please don’t think I’m conceited, however, with my new abilities, I could now read his desires to a deeper level.

I felt that the fact that I wasn’t going to be around all the time would be a plus if I did get involved with Shorn. He may think of me when I was gone, but like Lilly, I wouldn’t call him to chat about us when I was away.

I agreed to meet his friend for dinner in the restaurant, and we would meet him upstairs later and take it from there if I liked her. If I didn’t, I’d head home early. He agreed to this arrangement and went to call his friend.

I was to meet Toni at 7:30pm, and Shorn had booked the table in his name and told them to put it on his tab. I smiled and said I was willing to pay, but he said it was to their benefit, so it was on him plus he got a staff discount.

He gave me a brief description of Toni. She was a redhead, 168cm tall, had gorgeous green eyes and tended to wear her long straight hair loose. It was parted on the side and often clipped on the offside.

Toni wore a lot of black clothing, liked dark red lipstick and dramatic eyeliner. She had a generous ‘C’ cup and wore her breasts high with lots of cleavage showing. She also preferred to wear high heeled boots. Shorn grinned at me and told me not to worry and that I’d know when Toni entered the room.

Holy crap! He hadn’t been wrong. I wasn’t the only bloke trying to lift the table with his cock when we saw her. I was glad I had worn my black dress pants. They were cut to be loose in the crotch area, and I needed the room. She was just plain and utterly scrumptious.

The lady was wearing hip-hugging skin-tight black leather pants that were tucked into short ankle-hugging leather boots that had stiletto heels. The boots extended her legs, and they were the sexiest legs I had ever seen. As I followed them up from her delicate looking ankles, I could see the leather cut into her cunnie, and I was throbbing.

Her hips and thighs flared enough to indicate she wasn’t skin and bone, and the muscles were tight and toned. She had a tiny waist that was bare. The black lacy thing I suppose you could call a top didn’t hide her assets. The small red flower between her breasts was only there for one reason.

The bra had her luscious breasts up on show, and I was wondering how her nipples were even in it. I couldn’t wait to see the view when I stood over her. I found myself standing, and her eyes stopped on me. She smiled a wicked little smile that made my cock jerk. I watched her walk as the maître d’ escorted her to my table.

Bloody hell, even if I didn’t fuck her, there was no way I was letting her go home unless I put her in the taxi myself. The woman oozed sex appeal. Then she spoke. I think I leaked cum as her soft honeyed voice caressed my body and made my balls clench and my cock jerk.

“Hi, Shorn did say I’d know you when I saw you,” she purred as she raked me with her eyes again and gave me that wicked little smile that had my cock jerking.

Fuck, I had a wet patch for sure. Her smell was doing a number on me. The damn pheromones she was blasting me with were intense. I was almost too scared to touch her in case I blew. Then I noticed the glow. I had no idea how she was gifted, but I knew that she was. This knowledge calmed me down.

I could see that Toni was aware that she affected blokes, but I got the impression that she underestimated her impact, and it annoyed her that men acted like jerks around her. I glanced around and then realised that Toni affected both sexes.

I concluded that she was a Siren or was it a Succubus that preyed on both men and women alike and when they were awake. Then again, I bet her body and face had invaded a few dreams. The only way a person would be asleep near her was because they were exhausted.

I smiled with confidence and offered her my hand, a little surprised, she took it. I turned her hand over and kissed her wrist. I got to smile when she shivered at my touch. I answered, “He told me something similar, Toni. I hope the pleasure will be mutual.”

She quirked a delicate eyebrow at me. I noticed they were darker than her hair and wondered if the rug was also darker than the drapes that I believed was her natural shade. As our fingers touched, I knew that I’d find out later. The only taxi this babe would be going home in was one with Shorn and me.

I now understood why Shorn wanted her. Her pheromones attracted both sexes, and even a gay bloke would be tempted, even if he didn’t understand why. I think for Shorn, like me, the thought of a threesome with her in the mix was a serious turn on.

Toni and I sat down to enjoy a pleasant dinner.

I learned that Toni was an architect.

She also consulted on the interior design and recently she had started doing the whole thing from start to finish. She was proud of her latest project. She had the last lot of the furnishings to install tomorrow, and it would be finished.

We ranged across a lot of subjects as we ate. She was knowledgeable and opinionated but not entrenched, and she would listen to an argument. She liked playing devil’s advocate, and we were both grinning and enjoying the lively discussions.

Then my brother served us dessert. I groaned, as I knew he had cooked our meal, it had his special touch. “Toni, I hesitate to introduce you this rascal. He is trying to steal your heart and soul. Toni, my brother Ryan. Ryan this is Shorn’s friend and mine, Toni.”

She looked at me and then at Ryan, who winked and gave her his most charming smile. He bowed forward slightly, “The pleasure is all mine, Toni.” She grinned at him and graciously sat back as he placed the dessert in front of her and then one in front of me.

We both watched her, and she must have realised we wanted to see her reaction. So, she lifted her spoon and took a sample. Her eyes widened, and she said, “Oh my! You had better not serve this in here too often unless you own shares in the hotel next door.”

We both chuckled, Ryan, winked at me, bowed to Toni and left with a serene smile on his lips. I watched Toni while she ate. She ate all of the dessert with a lot of enjoyment. When she finished, she sat back and looked at me with speculation. “Now I know why Shorn said I had to come to dinner when Ryan was cooking. How long has he been a Chef?”

“He isn’t, yet. He has to finish his apprenticeship. However, I think Cheffy will have to pass him in the three months that they agreed upon. Once he starts cooking for the multitude, this place will become reservation only, and the prices will double,” I told her.

She nodded and said, “He cooked our meal as, well didn’t he?” I nodded. “I’ve eaten here before, and I was wondering who the new chef was. Cheffy will make a bomb off your brother.”

It was my turn to nod. I just hoped that Cheffy didn’t try to use Ryan as his previous employer had. Toni then looked at me and grinned before she said, “Do think Shorn would get upset if we started without him?”

“Actually, I think he would,” I said, smiling at her.

“Bummer,” she responded. She then surprised me by saying, “Damn, your smell, aura and smile are killing me. No wonder Shorn finds being near you a massive turn on. Do you have that effect on all your partners?”

I frowned. I had to admit that I never had a lot of trouble picking up if I felt like company. When I was an apprentice, the other blokes often dragged me out on the town. I remember one of them saying I was a sheila magnet. I never knew what he meant.

I wasn’t the most handsome bloke in the group, but the blokes swore they got luckier if I was with them. I also realised that I rarely took anyone home if I was out with the boys. It was almost as if I deliberately projected whatever it was, I did, so the women were attracted to those around me rather than to me.

I preferred to pick-up when I was alone or only with Ryan. I’d assumed it was because I didn’t always choose a female and liked to leave the option to what I find on the night. I turned the question on her, “Have you ever wondered why a confessed gay bloke wants you so bad?”