Chapter 18

I hadn't discussed getting back to my apartment with anyone, so I planned on walking. At the corner of South Nedderman and Cooper, I was waiting for the crosswalk light when I heard someone honk and call my name. I looked and found Jordan waving at me from the parking lot just south of Davis Hall. She was in a body hugging pale yellow dress that dipped low enough in front to show her blue and white bra. The hem of the skirt stopped halfway down her thighs and she wore knee-high leather boots. Her hair cascaded in loose curls over her breasts and even from where I first spotted her, I could see her nipples standing at attention.

I walked over to her. "I didn't expect anyone to pick me up."

She cocked her head to the side. "Have you ever had to walk to my apartment at all since classes started?"

I shook my head. "No, but I shouldn't have to depend on you or anyone else for transportation."

She smiled and pulled me to her for a kiss. I couldn't believe how good it felt to kiss her and I indulged myself just a little. When I broke for air, she licked her lips and looked my face over. "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone got your engines running."

I shook my head. "Nope, just really happy to see you."

She rubbed her belly against me. "It feels like it. I'd take you to your apartment and take advantage but we can't."

Holding her, I was very tempted to ask why not, but I restrained myself. It was a first that I might be the aggressor between the two of us and I didn't doubt that she would be perfectly willing to entertain my desires. However, with the threat of what my power might do to her, I stepped back so temptation wouldn't win. I also realized that she said we couldn't not because she didn't want to but because something else was up. "What's going on?"

She ran her fingers over my chest, but skipped my nipples. "Just get in."

I ran to the other side and climbed into her car. Jordan was smiling at my eagerness, but she didn't make a move to either encourage or discourage me. We left the parking lot and passed the apartment complex.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Part of me thought she might just take me to her place and have her way with me there. I wouldn't have argued with her about it.

"Something's come up with Sammi," she said. "She called and needs you at the store."

"Is everything alright?" I asked, scared she might have already been affected by my power.

Jordan smiled. "She's fine. I think it has something to do with the line."

I nodded, relieved.

Jordan studied me as she drove. "So, how were your classes today?"

"Productive," I said.

"Really?" she asked, showing more interest than she ever had in my classes. "What did you ... produce?"

I shook my head. "Nothing like that happened. Erica was content with me rubbing her feet during Political Science and Leanne and I stayed focused in English because she likes to sit in the front row."

Jordan nodded. "I know you have three classes. What about the last one?"

I sat back, grinding my teeth. "I was late to my last class because one of the guys from English wouldn't let me and Leanne leave." I looked at Jordan. "He didn't believe that Leanne didn't want to go to lunch with him."

"He just wanted to eat lunch?" Jordan asked.

I shook my head. "I convinced Leanne to be herself and dress the way she wanted to. She did and I think Neil thought she was dressed like that for him or something."

"Are you saying that he didn't want to eat lunch?" she asked, her tone thick with innuendo.

I nodded. "Yes, that's what I'm saying."

She rolled her eyes. "Then just say Neil wants to get in her panties, or something similar. You don't have to beat around the bush with me."

"I know, I'm just ... frustrated," I said.

Jordan sighed. "And you reverted to your old self, wanting to hide and avoid confrontation."

I shook my head. "No, I confronted Neil. I stood up to him. I couldn't let Leanne deal with him on her own when I was standing right there."

"Very gallant of you," Jordan said. "But sometimes you just have to let a girl handle her own problems."

"He was challenging me, not her," I said. "She even confirmed what I said, but he was just being stubborn about it. Sometimes I worry that someone like him won't understand when one of you say no and do something I might feel the need to kill them over."

Jordan smiled. "I know you care Seth, but I doubt any of us will ever need that level of protection." We sat there for a moment and she asked, "Okay, he made you late to your last class. What happened there?"

"Professor Dumont might know a lot about psychology but she doesn't seem to connect with people very well," I said.

"What do you mean?" Jordan asked.

I told her what happened.

"And now she's going to keep you on a short leash in her class," Jordan summed up.

I nodded. "Looks that way."

She reached over and patted my thigh. "So, why the amorous greeting?"

I looked at her. "What, I'm not allowed to hug and kiss you like that?"

She pouted. "I wish you would hug and kiss me like that more often, but I know you well enough to know something had to have happened. Who was she?"

I shook my head but said, "Katrina, Dumont's T.A."

Jordan smiled. "Tell me about her."

"There's not much to tell," I said. "Until Monday, we never even spoke to each other. Now I've talked to her twice."

"You don't remember what about?" Jordan asked.

"Monday was about nothing really, just me commenting on her working with Dumont," I said. "But today ... Today she was different somehow." I looked at Jordan. "Do you remember the spark between me and Robyn at the bank on Monday?"

Jordan nodded. "You said you felt her emotions."

I nodded. "It happened again with Katrina."

"What did you feel?" Jordan asked.

"Just to be clear, I wasn't wearing my Fetish," I said, "but she was saturated in lust. It wasn't the same as Robyn. It was like Katrina was used to it, like she was that way all the time."

"What else did you feel from her?" Jordan asked.

"Curiosity," I said, "which was fading, and very strong self-restraint."

Jordan looked at me. "Are you sure you weren't wearing your Fetish?"

I pulled it out of my pants pocket. "I've had it in my pocket all morning."

"Well," Jordan said, "after your proclamations of your studliness, she was probably curious what you had going for you that made you so popular with the ladies."

"I only said that to prove I wasn't gay," I said.

"You didn't prove anything," Jordan said.

"I wasn't going to give them names and details," I said.

"And all of your Fonti appreciate that," she said. "But rattling off numbers doesn't prove anything."

"If I didn't prove anything," I said, "then why would Katrina be interested in me?"

Jordan shook her head. "Although you didn't actually prove anything, you showed something a lot of other guys would have had problems with under the same circumstances."

I frowned. "And what was that?"

"Confidence and certainty," she said. "You weren't exactly being modest but you weren't smug about it either. That's something that will gain you more admirers than anything else."

"And you think that's why she was curious?" I asked.

She studied me again. "What did she say to you?"

I looked away. I wasn't sure I could repeat the question.

Jordan studied me for a second. "Did she come onto you?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Not exactly. Her exact words were, 'if I asked you to have sex with me would you?'"

"And what did you say?" Jordan asked in a tone that said she already knew.

"I asked her: 'Are you asking me to have sex with you?' but she shook her head," I said.

Jordan's eyebrows rose. She watched where she was driving silently for a minute. "I would have expected you to say no outright."

I shook my head. "Jordan, she's gorgeous..."

She chuckled. "But?"

"I thought binding Dumont's assistant to me would be a bad idea," I said. "What with how well Dumont and I get along already."

"Chicken," Jordan said. "That's a lousy excuse."

"You really believe I should jump every girl that shows even the slightest interest in me?" I asked. I was pretty sure what her answer would be.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, especially if you're attracted to her too." She shook her head. "I can't repeat myself enough about this. You're allowed to choose who you bind, which means you should pick women who you're attracted to. It's a massive bonus if she's attracted to you too."

I frowned. "Are you telling me that some Magi will bind someone they're attracted to even if the feeling isn't mutual? How do they deal with the backlash?"

She shrugged. "I've never met anyone who did that. If any Magus pays close enough attention, they'll find someone out there who shares their attraction." She looked at me with a grin. "Why, are you planning on binding your professor?"

I frowned and shook my head. "No way."

Jordan laughed. "Well, I doubt the Professor cares who her assistant dates, just so long as she can do her job."

I didn't argue that point. Besides, I wasn't entirely certain Katrina really was interested in me. She might have been worked up over the topic or any number of the other guys in the class too. Most of my attention had been on Dumont, so any number of things may have sparked her interest. In the end, I was sure Katrina had been just teasing me. Jordan was right. I hadn't proved that I wasn't gay.

We arrived at Silk and Lace. It wasn't as busy as it had been on Monday. Daisy bounced our way when we walked in. "Can I help you with anything today?" she asked.

Jordan smiled politely at me. I simply shook my head. "Sammi needs to talk to me," I said and we walked through the store to the studio. I wasn't wearing my Fetish, so I still wasn't certain about Daisy while in the store. If she was so attentive outside the store, then I might agree there was some interest, but until then, she was an unknown to me.

Sammi was sitting at the desk in front of the computer. She wore a dark blue dress that I thought was made of felt. The skirt fell only halfway down her magnificent thighs and a pair of gold high heels set off the natural tan of her skin as well as the gold in her hair. She looked up when we walked in and smiled. "Hey, Seth. I need you."

Jordan grinned wide but Sammi and I ignored her. Sammi waved me to her and pointed at the computer screen. "I've been looking at the photos we took on Monday. I put them together with the rest of the site to make sure everything looked good but I realized there was a problem." She looked up at me. "You're a touch pale in the pictures."

I stood up straight and said, "Oh. So, what are you suggesting?" I thought I had just lost my job.

She reached over next to the computer tower and pulled out what looked like a can of spray paint. She held it up for me to see. "Liquid Tan," she said. "We spray you with this and make you look like you worship the sun as much as Jordan."

I glanced at the brunette. "I thought you went to a tanning booth?"

She nodded and we looked at Sammi.

The store owner rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. You'll look like you've been tanning too."

I nodded. "Okay, but doesn't that mean we have to re-shoot everything we've already finished?"

She sighed. "That depends on how the new pictures turn out."

"So, you might need me to actually go to a tanning booth anyway," I said.

She shrugged. "We won't know until we try." She stood up. "Do you want to try the test shots in your underwear?"

I frowned at the can. I didn't like the idea of being covered in instant spray-on tan. For that matter, she didn't need me fully covered. Only my belly and thighs were in any of the pictures. "How easily does that wash off?" I asked.

She cringed. "It's designed to be waterproof. It's supposed to be an alternative to tanning."

I held out my hand for the can. She handed it to me. I read the directions and noticed the warnings. It could cause rashes or other medical problems. Great, and I was supposed to see Jana today and spend the night with Milena. I needed to test this stuff out first. I sprayed it on the inside of my left wrist and waited. It didn't itch or burn, but it looked funny. I turned my arm this way and that, trying to see it in better light. "Am I supposed to turn orange?"

Sammi sighed. "I was afraid of that."

Jordan bumped me with her shoulder. "You might have another solution, Seth."

I looked at her and understood what she was suggesting immediately. "You mean a spell to make me look tanned?"

She nodded. "Actually, you really would be tanned."

I shook my head. "I don't know about that. The last spell you taught me went a lot further than you expected. I'd hate to turn into a crispy critter."

She shook her head. "We know how potent your Magic is. We just have to tone down your effort to make it work right."

"Can we test it somehow first?" I asked.

"The only way to test it is to try it on someone else," she said.

I looked from her to Sammi and back. "Okay, it's all or nothing."

Jordan rolled her eyes. Sammi looked at her. "What do you mean by that, Seth?"

"He's very protective," Jordan said. "He doesn't want to do anything that might hurt us."

Sammi nodded. "So, what's involved in this spell?"

Jordan looked at me. "It's a little more complex than the luck spell, but only because it involves modifying his skin."

I looked at Jordan too. "How much more complex?"

She shrugged. "Not much. I used to use it."