Chapter 25

Danielle and I did use the bed, but only after she had me pump a load into her on the couch, and then chase her to the bed to do her from behind. I realized I was as eager for more sex with her as I had been throughout the night I spent with Jordan, initiating each round. After another two orgasms for her and me unloading on her heart-shaped butt, we collapsed on the bed, too spent to do more than maintain the lowest level of physical contact and catch our collective breaths.

I moved closer to her, pressing the length of my body against her back. She accepted my kiss but waved a flag of truce. We agreed to clean up before we passed out and helped each other to the bathroom.

We were in the shower, washing each other off and goofing around when we heard a knock at the main suite door. We both froze and stared at one another for a moment. I had forgotten that Jana was coming up and from the look on Danielle’s face, she had too.

Danielle unfroze first and left the shower to dry off. I turned the water off and got out too. Before I was finished drying off, another knock sounded and Danielle darted into the bedroom. I followed her but at a more leisurely pace. After all, Jana was here to see Danielle, not me. The redhead went through one of her suitcases, pulling out clothes. I leaned against the door jamb and watched her. She pulled on an oversized t-shirt with Winnie the Pooh on the front. He had an empty honey jar on his head and his paw in another, saying, “Honey is yummy for my tummy.” She threw me a grin when I smiled at the shirt and headed for the living room, closing the bedroom door behind her.

I didn’t mind, but my clothes were scattered all over the living room. Jana seemed like a smart woman. She would see the state of the suite and know immediately what happened without seeing me at all. Of course, there was a difference between knowing what had happened and seeing me. I was sure she could deal with the former without having to encounter the latter.

I wrapped a towel around my waist, just in case she came back in or Jana had to use the bathroom. Then I gathered up Danielle’s clothes and folded them to put them in her suitcase.

I no more than finished when someone softly knocked at the door. I turned to it and said, “Come in.” I couldn’t fathom why Danielle would knock when it was her suite and Jana didn’t strike me as the softly come-and-go type, so I didn’t know who to expect.

Danielle slipped in and closed the door behind her. She noticed that her clothes weren’t strewn about any more and said, “Thank you, Seth, but you didn’t have to do that.”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t a bother. Besides, it kept me busy and allowed you two some time to talk.”

Danielle’s eyes widened. “I’m the only one who’s been talking. Jana’s been crying the entire time.”

I sat on the bed. “Really? What about?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t the faintest idea. Honestly, I’ve never seen her like this.”

“So, why are you in here?” I asked. Danielle didn’t strike me as someone who left her friends sobbing.

“The only word I could understand through all of her sobs ... was your name.”

I frowned. “My name?”

Danielle nodded. “I tried asking why she said your name, whether she wanted to talk to you, and if she simply wanted to talk about you, but she won’t tell me. So, I thought if you went in with me and we talked to her together, we might get somewhere.”

I nodded. “No problem, but she’d probably be more comfortable if I at least had some pants on.”

Danielle noticed my towel and then went into the bathroom. She returned with a folded bundle. It had a ribbon wrapped around it like a Christmas present. “Put this on. It’s already paid for, so it won’t matter if we take it or it gets ruined.”

I took the bundle and was amazed at how soft the material was. I untied it and held it up. It was a robe. I had never owned one before but didn’t worry about that for the moment. I slipped it on and set the towel on the bed.

Danielle nodded at me and opened the door.

Just as Danielle had described, Jana was racked with sobs on the couch. Even after our exchange earlier, I couldn’t bear to see her like this. I walked over and sat in one of the adjacent chairs, both to be close enough to be friendly and to offer some distance if she preferred.

Danielle sat next to her and soothed her back. “Jana, Seth’s here. You mentioned his name. Did you need to tell him something?”

Jana looked up and wiped away tears from her cheeks. Her mascara was smeared and if she wore any other makeup, it was gone.

I picked up the box of Kleenex tissues on my other side and held them out to her. She took two and blew her nose. I really couldn’t imagine what had upset her so much, but it seemed she was at least trying to recover.

Jana stared at me for a moment but didn’t say anything. I was at a loss of what she wanted and Danielle seemed ready to sit and wait for Jana to do the talking. Jana swallowed and licked her lips. Her eyes travelled down, taking in what I was wearing and then met my eyes again. Her bottom lip started to tremble and fresh tears formed along her eyes.

I slipped out of the chair to the floor in front of her. She watched me move, but didn’t pull back. I placed my hand on hers in her lap and met her eyes again. “Jana, tell me what’s wrong. What’s bothering you?” I didn’t think it had anything to do with her restaurant because then we would have gotten a call from her cancelling this visit rather than her in person. Whatever was wrong, it was personal.

She clasped her thumb over my hand, holding me to her in that tiny way. Something in her expression shifted and the waterworks were simply gone.

Part of me didn’t like such a simple solution to resolve her crying. Danielle had been her friend for a lot longer than me. She should have been a comfort to Jana. I was a stranger, a man, someone who had snuck in and taken Danielle from Jana just when the opportunity to attempt for the redhead’s affection came. She had so many reasons to not like me, yet she calmed down with my touch. It was more than I could accept.

I didn’t pull away from her, though I was tempted. I couldn’t be that cruel. Regardless of how I felt, I wasn’t going to give her comfort and then take it away. I didn’t have to like it, but then it wasn’t like I was going to have sex with her either. I could be a surrogate teddy bear until she could stand on her own again.

Jana’s other hand rose up and cupped the side of my face. It was an intimate gesture, one I would use right before kissing Danielle or Jordan. Jana didn’t think like I did. Surely, she wasn’t about to kiss me.

Boy was I wrong.

Before I could react, before Danielle knew what was going on, before the world outside could laugh out at my chaotic thoughts, Jana kissed me. Her lips were full and soft. They were wet from her licking them after she stopped crying, and they were fully pressed to mine.

For a moment, I was frozen with shock. I wanted to ask Danielle who the woman kissing me was and why she let her in. Danielle didn’t do anything that I could see, but then I couldn’t see anything except Jana’s closed eyes.

The brunette held my face gently and kept her lips pressed to mine long after my initial shock wore off. This wasn’t something I would have ever expected from her. Not in a million years. Nothing I had experienced, not over the past two days, not even at home, could have explained why Jana was kissing me.

No, there was one explanation. I just didn’t want to accept it.

Jordan had continued to tell me about being a Magus, even when I challenged everything she said. For her every explanation, I had a counter. For every possible form of proof, I had been skeptical. Who wouldn’t be? None of it made sense. Magic wasn’t real. I wasn’t a modern wizard. The world didn’t work that way.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t explain the lingering kiss Jana was having with me. She had shown me nothing but hostility and disgust. At no point had she done anything that indicated she was interested in me, not even as a friend for Danielle’s benefit. Yet, here she was, here we were, kissing.

She pulled back only a fraction. Her eyes fluttered open and I saw more in her gaze than I wanted to.

Jordan had been subtle when she came onto me. She used the opportunity of the game at the pool party to touch me in ways that would stir my lust and push me over the edge of controlled restraint when she dragged me away to get what she wanted.

Danielle was smitten. It was the best way to describe her. She came onto me directly and held nothing back in her attempts to disrobe me and get what she needed. In the end, I understood that it was possible and enjoyable to have sex without a relationship, to even use sex to help get over an ending one.

Jana, though, was a total mystery to me. She defied all of the rules and expectations I had quickly grown accustomed to. There was no logical reason for her to want to be near me, much less kiss me.

And kissing wasn’t all she wanted.

I could see it in her eyes. I knew what I was seeing even if I didn’t think it should have been possible. I could imagine Jana wearing that expression when thinking about Danielle, even Jordan, but not with me. She shouldn’t have that look of hunger while I was close by.

But that was the problem. If Jordan was right, if I was a Magus going through my Initiation, anyone I got too close too would be susceptible. From the way Jordan talked, sexual preference on my part or on the part of anyone caught by my power went out the window. The most hetero-sexual man would have me, and a raving lesbian would have me. Jana, I counted as a member of the latter.

Was it true? Did I have proof sitting in front of me, holding my hand with her thumb and my face close enough to hers to make our lips brush with a sharp inhale? Was Jana sexually infatuated with me because of some kind of magical power in me that needed to be fed? I simply did not know and my doubts were quickly getting trashed the way bowling pins fly when a strike is thrown.

Jana’s lips parted and she inhaled. My lips met hers again, but this time I was a little more prepared. Well, I say a little more prepared but only insofar as not being completely stunned by the encounter. I knew what was coming and I knew what it could lead to. What I didn’t know was what to do about it. On top of that, I didn’t know how Danielle would react, not to mention what Jana would do once this touch of insanity wore off.

Danielle’s reaction only worried me slightly. On one hand, she could be happy that her friend wasn’t crying anymore, but on the other hand she would be as puzzled as I was without the Magus Initiation explanation. I didn’t think she would be upset, per se, since she didn’t have any problems with me and Jordan, but she might get more curious than I needed her to be, especially if I actually accepted the whole Magus explanation myself.