Chapter 16

The following afternoon, Baz and Kate had sloppy period sex for twenty minutes in the middle Laurel’s magic circle while she buzzed around making incomprehensible magical preparations. Sometimes she would touch one or the other of them, but even then they mostly felt like they were alone. Wherever Laurel’s mind was, it wasn’t on gawking at her naked friends. Most of Laurel’s time was spent drawing small glyphs with a paintbrush around the candles. The care and precision with which those symbols were painted was in jarring contrast to the spray paint outline of the circle itself.

After Kate and Baz cleaned up, the trio went back to Laurel’s dorm to make her date-ready. Baz took pictures to show his friends while Kate talked down Laurel’s ever-growing panic.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” Laurel asked after Baz left.

“You’re a skinny redhead who’s guaranteed to put out. He’ll like you,” Kate reassured her.

“There’s stuff you don’t know!” Laurel insisted. “I get ... freakishly wet - down there.”

“He won’t mind. He’ll probably be turned on,” Kate countered. “Just think of it like a blind date that’s gone really well so far. And if it doesn’t feel right, you can always say no. You know that, right? You can always change your mind, even if you told him you were going to do it.”

“I know,” Laurel said nervously.

“Have a little faith - Baz isn’t going to set you up with a creep. Plus, this is kinda what you always wanted this year, right?” Kate continued. “Carefree college sex!”

“Yeah,” Laurel admitted.

Laurel’s phone chimed with a text from Baz. “Got a date for you. Eric will meet you there at 10:00.” It included a picture of a confused but smiling blond boy waving at Baz’s phone. Laurel showed it to Kate.

“Looks pretty cute to me,” Kate said encouragingly.

“Yeah,” Laurel said with a shy smile.

Laurel was a ball of nerves as she waited outside the abandoned nursery. She was nervous that Eric wouldn’t like her. She was nervous that she would forget to cast the spell. She was nervous that sex wasn’t as good as she remembered. One thing gave her confidence, though: she was wearing her sexy underwear. These were the panties and bra that she had bought before leaving for college that she had planned to wear for parties and dates - any time she would be having sex. They were sexy, but in a way that suited her: in them, she didn’t feel like she was pretending. She’d had to go to great lengths hiding them from her father and brother of course. This was her first time wearing them, and they gave her confidence.

Eric’s truck pulled up next to Laurel’s car and he stepped out. The light was low but she could make out his shape clearly. He had a warrior’s body: strong but lean and agile. He smiled when he saw her, and without thinking she smiled back.

“I’m Eric,” he said. He didn’t seem surprised or disgusted as he approached her. “And you’re Laurel?”

Laurel nodded and muttered yes.

“This is kind of a weird place for a first date,” he observed, but not in a bitchy way. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go somewhere else? This place doesn’t look all that safe.”

Part of Eric’s reluctance, Laurel knew, was caused by the wards she had put in place to keep people away. Passers-by rationalized it in whatever way made sense to them, but they always had a strong feeling that they should leave. That would go away once he affirmatively chose to follow her inside. But part of it was just that it was a run-down abandoned building that smelled like decaying plants.

“It has to be here. I’m sorry,” Laurel said.

“Baz said you were doing some sort of science experiment, but that you couldn’t talk about it,” Eric said. Laurel shrugged and nodded.

Eric reached out to touch Laurel’s arm - a friendly gesture meant to test her boundaries. She visibly froze, so Eric decided she needed more time to get to know him. “I’ve got some wine coolers in the truck. Want to sit and talk for a while?”

Laurel and Eric sat on the tailgate of his truck sipping their drinks and talking about majors, home towns, and weird people in the dorms. Laurel messed up and said stupid things that she knew would make him hate her, but instead he looked at her with wonder, like she was seeing the world differently than any human ever had. The wine cooler helped Laurel relax. Bumping shoulders with Eric helped get her used to the idea of touching him.

Laurel was experience enough with spell-casting while tipsy, thanks to Richard, that she knew when to stop drinking. She spent a number of seconds trying to decide how to ask Eric to kiss her while she listened to his latest anecdote. He read it in her body language and just did it - he kissed her. It had been four years since her last kiss: four years since the party at which she’d lost her virginity, and her mother began to die. Kissing was the same, she decided, but she was different.

She put the sad thoughts out of her mind and focused on making out with her date. She made silly noises without meaning to, but they seemed to just encourage Eric. After a little while he pulled the top of her dress down and removed her bra. He didn’t say anything about her bra, but she thought she caught a look of appreciation on his face, like he knew that it was special and she had worn it just for him.

Eric didn’t squeeze her boobs right away, or suck them or any of the things guys are supposed to want to do. Instead he seemed to be studying them with his fingertips as if they were delicate and precious. Her excitement boiled over, and in an instant she was frantic, tearing off his jeans and surrounding his cock with her lips.

Laurel had never given a blowjob before but she had practiced with dildos, and discussed theory and technique with various friends over the years. She tongued him for a bit and then switched to bobbing her head sweeping her lips over his crown. Eric groaned.

The height of the tailgate on which Eric was sitting was actually very convenient for Laurel, standing on the ground. She didn’t have to bend or lean awkwardly and she could rest her arms on the truck or his thighs. It allowed her to sustain a great vigor while sucking him off.

Eric was moaning intensely and petting Laurel’s hair. She felt proud of herself.

“Is it okay if I come in your mouth?” Eric asked.

Laurel hadn’t actually thought of that. She had nothing against swallowing in principle, but in order to fuel the spell she meant to cast, she needed actual traditional penis-in-vagina sex. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might actually make him come like this.

“But what about the...,” she stopped sucking to say. “Will you still be able to - sex?”

“I’ll definitely be good to go again if you’re not in a hurry tonight,” Eric said, a little disappointed that Laurel had slowed down for this negotiation.

“You can come in my mouth,” Laurel said. “So I’m doing this okay?” She added as she resumed mouth-fucking him.

“Jesus yes!” Eric exclaimed. A short while later Laurel felt four spurts of pressurized liquid tickling her throat.

Laurel took two more sips of her wine cooler while Eric lay back panting. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, suddenly realizing how cold she was. “Let’s go inside,” she suggested. “I’ve got blankets and stuff in there.

They didn’t go to the outdoor sales area where Laurel’s magical preparations were on display. Instead they went into the store proper where Laurel had prepared a bed of several layers of blankets, with pillows, a space heater, condoms, and a couple bottles of water.

They kissed standing on the blankets and then Eric guided Laurel to the ground. He took off her shoes, peeled off her leggings, and finally removed her panties. They were soaked, Laurel was aghast to discover, but that didn’t stop Eric. He lowered his face to kiss her clit, and then her mind became a jumble. Thoughts were displaced to make room for feelings - such nice feelings.

No toy had ever felt quite like Eric made her feel, with his tongue and lips making a coordinated attack on her clit. Even sex, the one time she’d done it, hadn’t felt like this. Only her demon sex plant had given her these feelings before. But for as great as the demon plant had been, this time there was something more. She could feel the warmth of his face, and his strong hands holding open her thighs. She could hear him breathing and occasionally making soft sounds from his throat. She could touch his head and press it into her harder. She could anticipate, very soon, having his body on top of her, pressing down and thrusting into her. Her clit might not know the difference between Eric and the plant, but Laurel’s head and heart definitely did.

Eric put two fingers into her cooch. “Wow, you’re tight!” He declared.

Laurel was about to explain that she regularly did Kegel exercises, but she came instead - hard. Eric tickled her G-spot and it happened again, and again.

As fantastic as the feeling was, Laurel asked Eric to stop. What she wanted now more than anything was for him to hold her. Laurel’s juices were everywhere: Eric’s face and hands, Laurel’s thighs, and even Eric’s shirt collar. Eric took off the rest of his clothes and moved beside her, spooning her.