“You!” Siniel said, pointing.

“Me.” I wondered what her problem was with me now.

“You had sex with my daughter.”

Naturally, a bunch of people turned around. I recognized Melida Verner, and was glad Taurus wasn’t around to hear this, and the tall blonde I’d met briefly… Cassandra? And John Sparks, whose hot water I’d fixed the day before. Siniel had not lowered her voice.

Well, so much for keeping it a secret. I might as well have had that goodbye kiss. But I agreed with Vixie’s reasoning. “Can you keep it down?” I asked quietly, restraining my temper.

She gestured to me with her finger to follow her and walked off into an alley.

I didn’t know what she was capable of, but I wasn’t backing down, and it was light out. People had seen us, thanks to the scene she’d made. I didn’t think she was going to murder me in the alley, so I followed.

“Look,” I started, “I don’t know what you think you know, but…”

“I know every time she sleeps with someone,” Siniel sniffed. “If you want to call it sleep. I cast an enchantment on her years ago, when she – well. That’s how I know that vixen used a potion on my Vixie. She hasn’t been with anyone else for two years. Until now. I suppose it’s an improvement.”

I frowned. “Because I’m a guy?” I was ready to argue it.

“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous,” Siniel said.

“Then…”

“Because you’re at least human and not an animal. And you do magic, so as humans go you aren’t a disgrace.”

“Well, thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome,” she said regally.

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Don’t be. It’s not becoming. So, are you going to steal her away from that fox?”

“Nope.”

“I’m going to tell the little hussy, you know. And you can’t stop me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Actually, I’m pretty sure I could stop you,” I bluffed. Obviously, Laurel knew, but I didn’t want her to have to deal with Siniel even though part of me would enjoy seeing Laurel laugh in her face. Importantly, Laurel didn’t seem like the kind of person who would enjoy doing it.  “I’m not going to, but I could. Laurel knows, so don’t bother.”

“She knows?” Her eyes narrowed. “They didn’t share you, did they? Have you eaten anything that fox has made?”

“All the time. The eating, I mean.” I wasn’t going to spill any secrets I didn’t have to. “She’s an incredible cook.”

“Sure, it smells and tastes delicious, but who knows what she puts in the food.”

“I think we’re done here,” I said, turning and walking away. Did Vixie know about the spell her mom had on her? Could I get rid of it? Dispelling magic seemed like a good thing to learn, along with detecting it, and analyzing it. Meta magic. Maybe there was a book on that. Maybe it counted as another element as far as diversifying my spell use to get my mana up.

I hurried through the enchantments and walked home briskly. Laurel didn’t always lock the door, and I wasn’t sure what Siniel was capable of. As far as I knew she hadn’t tried to harm Laurel physically yet, so maybe I was worried about nothing. If she wasn’t provoked to violence over her daughter, it was unlikely she would be about me. Besides, apparently I was a higher form of life, in Siniel’s opinion.

I guess bigots were everywhere. It’s human nature, and probably sentient being nature, to think in terms of our people versus their people, our tribe versus their tribe, our ways versus their ways. Elves against fox girls was just a new wrinkle for me.

Nothing looked amiss. I knocked on Laurel’s door, and she opened it a moment later.

“Hi Jerry,” she said. “Did you need me for something?”

I didn’t know how to take the tone in her voice. “No. I was just checking to see that you were okay. I ran into Siniel earlier.”

“Oh. That woman.” I hoped Laurel’s voice never grew that cold because of anything I did.

“Yeah.” I explained what she’d said in the marketplace.

“Wow,” Laurel said.

“Sorry. I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”

Her eyes went wide. “You’re ashamed of us?”

I realized I was on the verge of hearing the voice I didn’t want to hear. “No. Absolutely not. I didn’t want to share anything you didn’t want to share, that’s all. We didn’t talk about it.”

“I’m not a dark secret,” Laurel said. “I told Vixie that, and I’m telling you that.”

I put up my hands. “Got it. I could try to find a spell that would open the windows and shout it from the top of the tower, if you like.”

Her face softened, and she giggled. “Um, no, that won’t be necessary. I understand Vixie has some other spells she wants you to learn.”

I don’t think I blushed. But maybe. “Um, yeah. Did she tell you about them?”

“She told me about them.” Now Laurel was blushing, which from my point of view was a lot better. And cuter. “Anyway, I’m fine, but I’ll keep the outside door locked. She’s never done anything to me, but…”

“But?” I prompted.

“I don’t think Vixie’s place burning down was an accident. She had a place of her own, and one day it just caught fire when we were out together.”

“And you didn’t leave a stove going, or anything like that.”

“No. It was last fall, and it was a warmish day. We didn’t have any sort of fire going. Someone torched it. My parents, maybe. Or Siniel. Or some random person who hates us for loving each other. We never did find out who, and Bran offered to let us stay here until they got a mage.”

I took her in my arms. “That sucks,” I told her.

“Yeah.”

We stayed like that for a moment, and then she gently pushed me away. “You have studying to do, and I have some tinctures to make. I’ll bring lunch up to you, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay.” I stopped to make sure the front door was locked first and then marched up the stairs. Fire was an issue. The outer walls were stone and wouldn’t catch, but the floors were wood, and the whole place was a fire trap – no fire escape, no back door even. Yet another reason to learn that levitate spell.

But burning my house would doom the whole town, right? No one would do that.

I knew human history too well to think that just because something was self-destructive and illogical, that no one would do it. I suppose it was positive that if Vixie’s house had been burned down intentionally, no one had done it with them in it.

I sat down and tried to puzzle out Sexual Transference. I wanted to work on Reduced Refraction and Erogenous Mapping, but Sexual Transference could solve the bigger problems. It would create some, too. I would like it if Laurel and Vixie wanted to have sexy times with me just because I was a wonderful human being, and not to charge me up. But at the same time, more sexy times was better, and sexy times that gave me mana would be better yet.

I thought I had it down, although I needed a partner to actually cast it. I was going to do my best to memorize it, though, because it seemed like futzing with a book in the heat of the moment was bad.

Laurel knocked, and yelled, “Is it safe?”

I opened the trap door for her, and she came in with the usual wrapped sandwich and bottle of water. She was wearing the same dress she had on when I first met her, although the laces weren’t pulled tight. “Are you making progress?” she asked.

When a cute fox girl asks you if you’ve learned any sex magic, say yes. In this case, though, it was true. “I think so. I think I’ve got Sexual Transference down.”

“But?”

“Well, it needs someone to cast it with.”

“I’m here.” She put the sandwich and the water on a table, and faced me.

“Um, yes, you are.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t want to do anything behind Vixie’s back.”

“We talked about this. It’s okay, Jerry. I would never keep a secret from Vixie.”

They talked about this. Okay fine. “Alright,” I told her. “We need to hold hands.”

She put out her hands, both of them. I took them. “Do you need the book?”

Now that I was starting, I was a bit unsure. “I don’t think so, but…”

She let go, picked up Swive Sorcery, and handed it to me. “We can balance it on our arms.”

We made it work. “Okay, now look into my eyes.”

She smiled. “Yes, Jerry.”

The submissive way she said that was as different from her cold voice as light and day, and it made my heart beat faster. I wanted to hear her say that a lot.

“Watch the patterns. You don’t need to cast anything, just keep watching.”

“Yes, Jerry.”

It was good we had the book, because I was having trouble focusing. With the symbols in front of me, however, in less than a minute we were done. It didn’t cost any mana, and there was no obvious effect, so it was hard to be sure I’d gotten it.

She smiled at me. “Success?”

“I think so.”

“We need to test it.”

“Uh. Vixie…”

“Relax, Jerry. You’ll have your alone time with her later.”

I gulped. “Oh.”

“Why don’t you sit down and eat. The meat is still warm.” She scrunched up her face in an attempt at a wink. “I mean the meat in the sandwich. I’ll see if I can pleasure you with my mouth. I’ve been asking Vixie about the best way.”

“You want to give me a blowjob?”

She nodded, smiling and blushing at the same time. “Yes, Jerry. Would you take your pants off, or would you like me to do that for you? If you do it, I can take off my dress. Vixie says guys like to see bare breasts when they get their cocks sucked. But you’re not all guys. What do you like?”

“I’ll take my pants off,”  I said. “And bare breasts are great. But I am not going to eat while you do it. I want to give you my full attention. And what can I do for you?”

She took her dress off over her head. I realized she’d intended this all along, which was why she hadn’t laced her dress up. She stood there in nothing but a tiny thong, her slender body revealed in all its glory. Her nipples were taut, and it wasn’t at all cold. “You can let me do this, Jerry, and let me find out if I like it. I think I’m going to, but I want to find out what it’s like when you cum in my mouth.”

I took my pants off. They were getting too tight anyway. “Oh. Uh, I can do that. Is that underwear from Earth?”

She nodded. “Yes, Jerry. The dress was made by the Garlocks, here in town, but our weaving isn’t up to Earth standards, so undergarments from Earth are very popular.” She got down on her knees, and winced.

One of the chairs had a cushion that came off, so I went and got it for her. It was a good thing, actually, because I quit thinking with my dick long enough to check my mana. It was at twenty.

She smiled as she positioned it under her knees. “Thank you. But you like me this way?” She was staring at my erection while she said it.

“Fuck yes.” I sat down in front of her.

She grinned and got to work.

She wasn’t skilled, but she’d already learned a few things I liked from the threesome. She held the base in her hand and wrapped her lips around me with just the right pressure. I stroked her hair and then scratched behind her ears. She started making keening sounds around my dick, and the vibrations were incredible. After a while she pulled back and looked up at me. “This is fun,” she told me, with a little shudder. “Is it good for you?”

“It most definitely is.”

“How do I make you cum?”

I wanted to tell her to just keep doing what she was doing, because I wasn’t in a hurry. But she clearly wanted to experience it, and I wanted to find out whether the spell worked. I remembered twenty years ago worrying about climaxing too soon, but this was the first time I worried about not doing it fast enough. “Use your hand, like you’re jerking me off, while you use your mouth too.” I mimed the motion with my hand. “That should do it.”

She met my gaze. “Yes, Jerry,” she said.

How did she make that sound like she was saying, “Yes, Sir,” or “Yes, Master?” Was that just in my imagination? Actually, the way she said my name was sexier than either of those.

She followed my suggestion. “Grip a little firmer,” I told her.

She did.

And moments later, I erupted down her throat, after giving her a warning. But she’d never experienced it before, and of course she still didn’t know what to expect. She swallowed, and then jerked her head back, without taking me all the way out of her mouth. Another jet hit filled her mouth, and she kept jerking me off, milking me onto her tongue.

And then kept up, after I was all done, while she swallowed it all down.

“You can stop now,” I told her. “That was amazing.”

“Did you get some mana?” She let go of my cock.

I checked.

 

Gerald Kenner, Mage

Mana: 22/28

Spells known: Tiny Flame (3), Water Globe (4), Sling Bullet (5), Sharpen Plow (7), Reinforce Greater Shield (X), Breath of Fresh Air (3), Hot Water Pipe (6), Freeze (4), Light (2), Levitate Minor Object (4), Sexual Transference (0).

 

I could have gotten a point from natural regeneration, so I might have just gotten one. We needed more experimentation. And to make up the difference between where I was, and where I needed to be, we would have to have sex somewhere between five and nine times a day. Which, honestly, didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world, although I wasn’t sure I could manage nine without having to cast spells to keep going, which would sort of defeat the point.

Well, depending on what the point was.

Either way, the one point improvement in my maximum was good, too.

“Yes, I got some mana,” I told her. “How was it for you?”

She smiled. “I think I liked it. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon so that I can be sure. You taste … interesting. Was it good for you?”

“Fuck yes.”

She beamed at me, and stood up, gathering her dress.

“What can I do for you?”

“Eat your lunch before it gets cold,” she told me. She put the dress back on.