Chapter 3

Alison came to my dreams again that night. “Way to go, stud!” came the enthusiastic voice from the silver cage in the basement. “You must have licked her through the roof!”

“How do you even know that?” I asked, embarrassed.

“It’s just part of what I am,” Alison explained. “Plus Clover’s sexuality is, in a way, amplified by the configuration of the coven’s magic.”

“Alison ... you’re not going to hurt her, right?” I asked, nervous about the answer.

“James,” she replied seriously, “there have to be consequences.”

“Then let there be other kinds of consequences - ones where she doesn’t get hurt. Where none of them get hurt,” I demanded. “Promise.”

“James...,” she began, and sighed. “All right - I won’t hurt Clover, Hillary, or Talia for imprisoning me. But they will regret it. And if they come after me a second time, all bets are off.”

“Thank you,” I said. The mental haze of the dream kept me from wondering what alternate sorts of vengeance she might think up.

With that ugly topic behind us, Alison was smiling again. “Okay, so we need to talk strategy. The way we’re going to break her resolve is with guilt. You keep making her feel warm and squishy, but when she tries to return the favor, you mustn’t come.”

“Huh?”

“When she gives you head or a hand job, don’t come,” Alison explained. “Tell her it was nice, A for effort, totally not her fault, but she didn’t quite get you there. Eventually she’ll be so frustrated trying to make you come that she’ll decide to use the one foolproof tool at her disposal.”

“How am I supposed to just not come?” I asked, exasperated.

“I’ll teach you a charm,” Alison said.

“I don’t know. That seems kind of ... evil, doesn’t it?” I asked, forgetting that I was talking to an actual demon.

“James,” Alison said with a sympathetic voice, “I know you really like this girl. And you might even have a future together, and I don’t want to jeopardize that any more than I have to. But don’t lose perspective - she and her family are holding me captive. Come solstice, they plan to do ... something ... to me, and it will be truly horrible. Worse than death. Please - lie to your girlfriend, suffer through blue balls, and before long it will all be over.”

Alison taught me the “charm” to keep from coming - a series of symbols to cycle through in my mind when I need staying power. They weren’t all language, or objects - most were more conceptual. Honestly, I don’t know if she could have taught them to me outside of a dream. But I did learn.

“I need you to practice, so wake up as soon as we’re done here, and break out that porn collection of yours,” Alison told me. “Practice at least an hour, or else you’ll forget it. And James? Don’t ever, EVER teach this to anyone else. There would be costs that you do NOT want to pay.”

I did wake up, and I did masturbate for a ridiculous length of time while practicing Alison’s charm. It took a little while to get the hang of it, but it became second nature surprisingly quickly. It was frustrating, for sure - I wanted to come - but it was also sort of empowering. I started to appreciate the feeling of sexual stimulation independent of the orgasm. It was dawn before I finally let myself come. My ejaculation was so powerful that some of it ricocheted off of the tissue and got all over my laptop.

Over the next few weeks, Clover and I spent a great deal of time in my bedroom, even though she never stayed the night. She came to welcome my hands and my mouth all over her body as I learned the secret and unique pathways to unlock her endorphins. I loved making her come. I loved the goofy look on her face as her body shook beyond her control. I loved the whimper she’d give me when I withheld the final nudge toward climax from her, just for a moment, to tease her.