Chapter 42

I returned to the living room to find both Lisa and her mother sitting on the couch. Lisa sat closer to the chair, but at least I wouldn’t have to fight off her wondering hands.

I sat on the chair with both necklaces in hand. Both of them continued to glow. No one had mentioned the glow so either I was the only one privy to it because I had worn the key for so many days already or because I was a Magus. If the latter reason was the case, then why didn’t Anna react to it? Maybe she either didn’t notice the glow or didn’t care. It was also possible she noticed and cared but didn’t want to say anything until she thought she might manipulate things to get her hands on them. Either way, I had to end the glow.

I held the locket in one hand and the key in the other. I touched them together, and just as Rho described, they locked onto each other like opposing magnet poles. I twisted the key for one full circle clockwise, and then another full circle in the same direction. The glow stopped. I pulled them apart and looked at the two women. “I hoped the key might open the locket,” I said, lying.

“Oh, too bad,” Mrs. Hartwell said.

Lisa bit her lower lip while looking at the locket. “I would love to get something like that for Christmas.” In a subtle move with her hand on my side, she drew a line over her cleavage, indicating where the locket would hang.

I smiled but I didn’t give it to her. “If I gave you one, would you wear it?”

She looked up at me with light in her eyes and nodded. “Yes.” Her voice was breathy.

I held out the key to her. “Would you wear this?”

She looked at the key and blinked. “Are you trying to trick me?”

“No,” I said. “No, I want you to have it. I believe it would be safe with you.”

Mrs. Hartwell sat up. “What do you mean?”

“Well, these are heirlooms from my biological mother’s family. I was in Virginia on Friday, to hear what she left for me in her will. She had tried to pass the locket on to me through my dad, but Mom ended up with it instead. The key, however, was there at the manor, waiting for me.”

Mrs. Hartwell blinked and shook her head. “Wait, are you saying you’re related to a wealthy family?”

“Actually, my half-sister and I are the only members left.”

“I thought you had two sisters?” Lisa asked.

“Alyssa and Faith are Mom’s daughters, my step-sisters. Mom and Dad were married before I turned one. She’s the only mom I’ve known until a few weeks ago.”

“So, then that manor, and the heirlooms?” Mrs. Hartwell asked. “They’re yours?”

I shrugged. “For the most part. It turns out my half-sister is wanted by the feds.”

“Oh!” she said. “What for?”

I shook my head and shrugged. “No idea.”

“I hope it wasn’t tax evasion,” she said with a grin.

I chuckled. “No, my attorney knows that much.”

“Your attorney?” she said, and shared a look with Lisa. “He wasn’t just there for the will?”

“Nope. He’s the family attorney. He helps with any legal matters.”

“I bet that’s expensive,” she said.

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to the family accountant yet.”

She laughed and sat back. “This is too much.”

I looked at Lisa. “So, what about it? Keep it safe for me?”

She nodded with a smile. I held out the key to her and she took it. She took a long, close look at it, and then pulled it over her head, flipping out her hair from the chain.

Mrs. Hartwell and I sat there and watched Lisa. To be honest, I expected her to get angry and then rant and rave at me, but it never happened. She simply looked at her mom and said, “See? I told you I didn’t need it.”

I’m sure the confusion on my face mirrored Mrs. Hartwell’s confusion. The spell should have been countered. She should be ready to leave, to go home, and forget she ever saw me. Instead, she turned and smiled at me again.

Mrs. Hartwell looked at me. “I thought you said she was affected by that thing too.”

I shrugged. “As I understand it, anyone who came near me while I wore it would have been. Well, within certain specified conditions.”

“And what are those conditions?” she asked, sounding miffed.

“Well,” I said, not sure how to proceed with Lisa sitting so close watching me. “Well, while I wore it, it affected anyone I found attractive and who found me attractive.”

“Well, that could be almost anyone,” she said.

I looked at her. “To be more specific, if I was willing to have sex with someone, and they found me the least bit attractive, they would have been affected.”

“Okay, any female.”

I shook my head. “There are women I would never touch.”

Mrs. Hartwell thumbed back at the front door. “Is that why it didn’t affect Anna Begley?”

“Yes but the key wouldn’t affect her because she’s ... like me.”

Her eyebrows rose. “What, she a guy dressed as a woman?”

I shook my head. “This involves details I’m not allowed to tell you.”

“Not allowed to tell us? Why? Are you a member of some kind of cult?”

“Mom!” Lisa cried out. “Get real.”

“But why can’t he tell us?”

“There are conditions under which I can tell you, but then you wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone else.”

“What? You would have to initiate us into this,” she hesitated and glanced at Lisa before saying, “club?”

I nodded. “As a manner of speaking.”

“And what does this initiation involve?”

I simply stared at her, dead pan.

Mrs. Hartwell sighed and said, “Why am I not surprised?”

“What?” Lisa asked.

“His initiation includes sex,” she said. “Which isn’t happening.” Then she stood up. “Come on, Lisa. We need to go home. Your father will be worried.”

Lisa got up too, but then held up a finger toward me as if to tell me to hold on a minute. Then she turned and followed her mom toward the front door.

I sat there, watching them go. If Lisa tried to convince her mother that she needed to stay for any reason, her mom wouldn’t leave. To be honest, I needed some time alone to talk to Rho so I could decide what to do with the Locket. Before I could decide whether to follow them out or not, Lisa returned, grabbed me by the wrist, and pulled me to my feet. “C’mon,” she said and dragged me toward the front door.

I pulled her to a stop. “Wait, what’s going on?”

She stopped and looked at me. “Mom doesn’t trust me to be alone with you. So, I suggested we all go home, you included. She agreed to that.” Then she turned and tugged on my arm again.

I stood my ground. Visions of her father bearing down on me with a two-by-four or a shotgun played out in my head.

Lisa turned and looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

I blinked and swallowed because my throat was dry. “Lisa, I’m glad we get along as well as we do, but I don’t believe your father will be very happy if you bring me along.”

She stepped close to me, taking both my hands in hers. “I told you,” she said softly. “I won’t let him hurt you.” Then she pressed herself against me, raised up on her toes, and kissed my lips.

When she pulled back with that same basking-in-my-warmth smile, I felt like putty. However, when I saw the troubled look on her mother’s face, I returned to myself.

Lisa stepped back and tugged on my hands. “C’mon Seth. It’ll be okay.”

I had a feeling it wouldn’t be. Yet, unless I was willing to turn mean, I wasn’t going to deny Lisa. I took a step forward.

She smiled again and said, “That’s my brave man.” Then she turned and led me toward the front door.

I pulled on her hand again, stopping her. I grabbed dad’s jacket, and scribbled a quick note for mom and Alyssa. I wanted them to know where to start looking, should I go missing.

I stepped out into the cold with the Hartwells, locked the house, and followed them down the stairs. Another pickup passed the driveway and then backed up to pull in.

“Oh boy,” Lisa said, squeezing my hand. “Wait here.”

I saw a man come around the truck and head our way. Mrs. Hartwell was already out, heading straight for him. “Is she here?” the man asked, not trying to keep his voice down.

Mrs. Hartwell stopped in front of her husband, and Lisa ran to catch up.

I stayed next to the stairs with the house key in hand. If nothing else, should he charge me, I could run back inside and lock them all out.

Mr. Hartwell stepped past his wife when he saw his daughter. His questions made it up to me. “Are you hurt? What did he do?”

Lisa talked quickly and quietly. I didn’t know what she said exactly, but it didn’t seem to have any effect.

“Baby, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said and looked up at me. “Let me handle this.” Then he pushed past both women and strode toward me.

“Daddy, no!” Lisa said, chasing after him. “Leave him alone,” she said and swept his feet out from under him.

Mr. Hartwell landed hard, but got back to his feet just as quickly and continued to come for me.

I looked at Lisa. She really was trying to stop him, but he refused to listen to anything she said. I understood that he wanted to keep her safe, but I wasn’t about to let him do me any further harm just so he would feel better about it.

I looked past the two of them at Mrs. Hartwell. She actually looked at me, met my eyes, and clasped her hands together begging. She may have seen me take down all those deputies, and though she didn’t doubt her husband was a capable man, she didn’t want me to harm him.

As far as I was concerned, I would only hurt him if he didn’t get the message.

Mr. Hartwell was only a few feet away when I decided on how to handle this. I cast my personal shield on myself and held out my hand to shake. “Hello, Mr. Hartwell.”

He stopped in front of me and slapped my hand away. “What have you done to my daughter?”

Mrs. Hartwell had been affected by a number of spells as well as the spell from the key. I removed those additional spells with a simple counter spell. I wasn’t surprised to find that Mr. Hartwell suffered from the same spells. I called up the counter and cast it. Then I answered his question with, “Nothing.”

Mr. Hartwell frowned harder, blinked at me, and stumbled with dizziness. He shook his head, looked at me again, and tried to stand straight again, but another wave of dizziness overtook him.

Lisa ran up and helped him. She helped him over to the stairs of the porch where he sat down. “What the hell?” He asked. Even the tone of his question seemed off.

I dropped my shield and walked over to sit on the other end of the steps. It would give me enough room to get away should Mr. Hartwell continue to feel the need to pummel me.

He looked up at Lisa. “Lisa, baby, what happened?”

She glanced my way but focused on her father. “I’m not sure, Daddy. You stumbled and needed to sit down. How do you feel?”

He nodded. “Better. It was as if I was in a dream. I came here to find that boy that hurt you.”

I held my breath.

“Who?” she asked.

“That Seth Connors boy. I had the strongest urge to beat him senseless.”

Lisa sat down next to her dad. “You know he never hurt me, right? Nothing ever happened.”

He focused on her. “Are you sure, baby?”

She nodded and smiled. “You’ve been sending me to self-defense classes. Do you really think anyone would be able to walk right if they had?”

He grinned and hugged. “That’s my girl.” Then he looked past her at me. Confusion crossed his face and he pulled from the hug. “Wait a minute,” he said and stood up to look around. “This is the Connors home.” He looked at me again and pointed. “That’s Seth Connors, right?”

I remained seated. The less threatening I looked, the less inclined he would be to jump me anyway.

Lisa stood up and grabbed his hand. “Yes, Daddy. That’s Seth Connors.”

He blinked at me. “But he’s all grown up. What happened?”

“Daddy, it’s been four years since that day,” Lisa said. “Seth came home to visit his family for Christmas. He’s going to school in Texas now.”

“Oh,” he said and nodded. “Okay.” Then he looked at me again.

Lisa stepped in front of him. “What are you thinking?” She asked with a finger pressed to his chest.

He looked at her, then at me, and then at her again. “Why are you here?” he asked her.

“I came by to talk to Seth,” she said and dropped her hand.

“About what?”

“Just to visit,” she said, not sounding convincing. Then she rallied and said, “You and mom go visit your friends occasionally.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

“We’re both victims of that day, dad. He never tried to get close to me because of what everyone thought of him, and I never approached him because my friends had me convinced for the longest time that he was no good.”

He frowned. “Why did they say that?”

“Because most of the kids in school are stuck up snobs and can be cruel.”

“Yet you believed them.”

“I’m sorry to say, that yes, for a long time, I did.” Then she glanced back at me over her shoulder. “It’s not fair to him for anyone to think that way without getting to know him.”

“And just how well do you know him?”

“I know he came back from Texas to find his missing father even though half this town would rather he never came back at all.”

“Well, that makes him very brave or very stupid.”

“I would rather think brave,” she said. “He found his father. He brought him home. And the people who didn’t want him to find his father tried to have him arrested on trumped up charges, but he fought them and prevailed.”

“You’re sounding like you admire him.”

“He was willing to go through hell to find his missing father, dad. Who wouldn’t admire that?”

He looked at me and then pulled his daughter into a hug. “You have a good point, baby.”

When she pulled away from the hug, he led her toward me. I didn’t feel threatened, but that didn’t mean I completely relaxed my defenses. I quietly renewed my personal force field.

They stopped a few steps away. “Mr. Connors,” Mr. Hartwell said, “I can’t apologize for what I did to you previously. I honestly believed you tried to hurt my little girl.”

I nodded. I understood that.

“However, learning the truth does make me feel bad for what you went through.” Then he gave his daughter a one-armed hug and glanced at her with a smile. “If you feel up to it, how about coming by the house for dinner?”

Lisa looked up and smiled, but then she looked at me and said, “It may be a bit soon, dad.”

He nodded, looked at me, and then held out his hand toward me to shake.

I was a bit surprised by this, not to mention a bit scared. I glanced at Lisa, who nodded her approval. She didn’t believe her dad was going to try anything, and I could only trust her judgment.

I stood up and clasped hands with Mr. Hartwell. He had a good grip.

He let go and stepped back with a smile. He looked at Lisa and said, “You’re mom and I’ll head on home. What about you?”

Lisa bit her lower lip and glanced my way. “I’m going to stay for a little while.”

He glanced my way and then nodded. “Okay, don’t stay out too late. The streets are slick.”

“I’ll be careful,” she said.

He gave her one more hug and then walked off toward his wife.

Lisa stood where she was and watched them go. I sat on the steps again.

For a moment, Mr. and Mrs. Hartwell stood out by their vehicles talking. Mrs. Hartwell pointed our way several times. I knew what concerned her. Mr. Hartwell seemed to believe that his daughter could defend herself if necessary. My concerns mirrored Mrs. Hartwell’s concerns. I wasn’t the instigator. Lisa was.

Finally, Mr. Hartwell walked his wife around and helped her into her car. Then he went and got in his truck. The two of them backed out of the drive and headed toward town.

Lisa turned to look at me with a big grin. “I thought they would never leave!”

Then she walked up to me, pushed back on my shoulders, and straddled my lap. She happily settled down on me, and looked into my eyes from only a nose-brush away. “How about we go inside, get naked, and you show me how Ms. Rooney was able to swallow that huge cock of yours?”

I knew my face must have looked bewildered. “What in the world has gotten into you?” I asked her.

She bumped my nose with hers and said, “I’m hoping you will.”

I looked down and spotted the chain on her, but I didn’t see the key. I looked up into her eyes again. “Where’s the key?”

“Oh!” she said and squirmed all over me as she fished around in her pocket. She pulled it out and held it up by the chain without a clasp. “You mean this?”

I looked at it. It was the key. “What the hell?”

She shrugged. “I like feeling this way. I hate being stuffy and boring all the time. I want to have some fun. I thought you’d be fun too.” Then she held up the key as if about to put it on. “Unless you’d rather I put this on, get angry because I think you’re taking advantage, punch you in the balls for it, and then leave in a huff only to tell my parents that you are the bad boy everyone makes you out to be?”

I grabbed her hands and pulled them down. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

She sighed and leaned into me. “No, but it would be easy for others to believe.”

“So then, you believe you have to blackmail me into having sex with you?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you don’t want to.” Then she ground her hipbone into me. “I can tell how happy you are this close to me.”

“You’re trying to change the subject,” I said. “Answer my question.”

“Ugh!” she grunted. “I don’t want to blackmail you. I want you to want me too.”

“Okay, but you also understand that I would rather have the same thing from you without the influence of that key.”

She grinned. “Wasn’t that you back in the closet? You seemed perfectly happy while I was stroking you then.”

I shook my head. “But this is you influenced by the key. Do you really believe you’ll be the angry, ball-kicking bitch you described if you put the key on?”

“I don’t want to be her.”

“Okay, so put the key on and don’t be her.”

“It’s not like this key is going to give me another option.”

“No, the choice becomes yours. Either you choose to be angry or you choose not to be.”

“But I’m angry all the time!” she said, slapping my shoulders to punctuate each word.

I gripped her wrists again. “First, ow! Second, why are you angry all the time?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just get tired of being treated like a princess who can’t do anything, or a pair of walking boobs, or any of the other inane things people seem to believe of me.”

I pulled her hands to my chest, and pressed my hands on top of hers. “I honestly don’t know why anyone treats you in any of those ways.” Then I glanced down and amended my statement. “Okay, the walking pair of boobs problem is too damned obvious to ignore, but I know you’re not just a pair of boobs.”

She blinked and stared into my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I remember us on the track back in school. I remember following you.”

“Watching my butt?”

I shook my head. “No, watching your hair bounce in that ponytail.”

“You didn’t notice my butt?”

“Is that what you really want to hear right now?”

“Hell yes! Anything other than how big my boobs are.”

“Which is why you mentioned the possibility of breast reduction surgery.”

She sighed. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Well first, let’s go inside because my butt and feet are numb.”

She smiled and stood up.

I got to my feet and grabbed the railing. Yeah, she cut off circulation or something because my feet were asleep. I stomped them until the needle-poking feelings went away. Then I glanced at her smiling face and climbed the steps. I unlocked the door, stepped inside, and she came in too. I took off Dad’s jacket and hung it up while she strolled ahead of me.

Yes, I looked. Yes, she had a very nice butt.

I followed her to the couch. She stood there and waited for me to sit down. Then she sat down too, with her hip pressed to mine. She took my hand, raised it up, snuggled to my side, and pulled my arm around her like a short blanket. I expected her to do something when my hand ended up on the side of her massive, sweater-stretching breast, but she just looked up at me and smiled.

I knew there were things I wanted to talk about, important points that needed to be discussed, but at that moment, I couldn’t think straight. My girls, my Fonti, were able to do the same thing to me when they wanted attention, and here I was being seduced by a girl I had feared for years. My fear was gone, especially after talking to her father. Now, the only thing keeping me from giving in to what Lisa wanted was the simple fact that she wanted it.

She studied my face, noticed my hesitation, and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

I blinked at her, trying to focus, trying to recall what it was that I thought was so important. Other than the fact that she was still under the influence of the key, I didn’t know what to say.

She reached up and drew my face around to look at hers. “I want to kiss you so bad,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

I didn’t turn away or tell her no. I guess she thought I agreed, because she straightened up, placing her face close to mine, and softly kissed my lips.

I returned the kiss, and another. The feather-light touch of her lips was nice, and while something inside me tried to convince me that there was something vitally important to talk about first, I eagerly anticipated each kiss. She was hesitant. Maybe she was worried that I would be scared away. I wasn’t scared of her anymore. I was worried for her, though I couldn’t put a finger on why.

Her kisses became firmer and her tongue darted out to lick my lips.

I met her tongue with mine, and with the arm she had draped over her shoulders, I pulled her to me.

She squealed into my mouth, apparently surprised by my move. She didn’t attempt to pull away; instead, she rose up to stand on her knees. I had to look up to maintain our lip-lock.

I felt the soft ribbing of her sweater along her back. Then I felt the sweater slide up and her warm, soft skin was revealed.

I pulled back from our kiss, looking up into her face to find out what she was doing.

She pulled the back of her sweater up and over her head, but left it on her arms and covering her breasts. She smiled at me and pulled my face to hers again for more sweet kisses.

I rubbed her back. The air in the room was cool, even with the warmth from the fireplace a couple of yards away. I felt the goose bumps on her back and wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or my touch.

Lisa didn’t stay on her knees for long. Holding my face to hers, she shifted her weight and threw a leg over my lap.

I broke our kiss so we wouldn’t try to knock each other’s teeth out, and held her to me as she moved to straddle my lap.

She settled on me, wiggled a bit to rub herself against me, and then leaned in to kiss me again.

I remembered what she mentioned outside about noticing her for someone other than a support system for her boobs. It wasn’t difficult to understand that she wanted attention for more than her boobs. I had always thought she was intelligent, and while that would help her get into school, I didn’t believe she wanted me to pet her brain. Instead, I let my hands drift down until I cupped her cheeks.

Lisa made happy little sounds as I squeezed her. She wrapped her arms around my head as she settled in, but I must have hit a nerve or something because she tensed against me and tightened her grip.

She pulled back, breaking our lip lock, and looked at me. “I don’t want to get comfortable. Not yet.”