Sappho's Amulet Ch. 01

Note – This story was originally part of CHYOO, an interactive fiction site affiliated with literotica.com. Unfortunately, the story was lost under unknown circumstances. Since it would be a monumental effort to replace the story on CHYOO, I have decided to re-write it here in non-interactive form.

Incidentally, there are three things you won't see in this story: Penises, toys, and anal sex. That's just how my tastes run, and if yours are similar, then you've found a story you'll enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE: Viva Las Vegas

It was on a business trip to Vegas that my life changed forever. Sure, a few people have life-changing events on a trip to the Neon Empire, but rest assured that mine is fairly unique in the city's history. The big payout on the slot machine is only a footnote in my tale.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Victoria Brown, and at the start of this story I was pretty low on life. I started out on the wrong foot in modeling, which is not a good foot to start on in a fiercely competitive field. I had the physical attributes for it; I've been fortunate enough to combine traits from my Arabic, Italian, and Swedish ancestries into a unique look that gives me naturally wavy black hair, bright blue eyes, and a smooth complexion that requires little in the way of embellishment. Unfortunately, I had the misfortune to hook up with a crooked photographer who not only conned me out of about $5,000 for a piss-poor portfolio, but who also snapped some shots of me changing in his dressing room and posted them on his hidden-camera internet site. Maybe I could have rebounded, but frankly I was disillusioned with the whole concept.

So, with nothing else to fall back on, I became a secretary. It's steady work for decent pay, but my boss is a predatory bitch and my co-workers either leer at me all day or turn up their noses with jealousy, depending on their gender. Good looks are a mixed blessing. Add to these difficulties the fact that the only apartment I could afford in L.A. is an overflow from the college dorms, with all the associated noise problems, and a breakup with a fiancé who I discovered was holding veritable orgies at various hotel suites while pretending to be on business trips, and one can see why I might have been a teensy bit unhappy with my life. At the age of 24, I was cynical, depressed, ad seriously considering becoming an alcoholic.

So leads up to that trip to Vegas. The previously mentioned predatory bitch, Lisa Hayes, had asked me to accompany her to a conference for the first time and I was naïve enough to think that it might be a good thing (which, to be fair, it turned out to be, but not for any of the reasons I might have guessed). I saw myself at her side during meetings with important business figures, mingling with the rich and successful, making the suggestion that turned a deal around and impressed the hell out of everyone present – the standard cliché of the secretary who makes good. The reality was a far cry. Ms. Hayes was hard enough to please in the office, but she proved impossible on the road. No report I gave her was complete, no call was made quickly enough, and when I tried to take some initiative I was reprimanded for "thinking too much". By the third day of the trip, I was ready to walk out and get a job as a cocktail waitress in one of the casinos.

Fortunately, it was on that third day that Ms. Hayes received an unexpected invitation to a formal dinner, and I was left alone for the first time. I hadn't had the opportunity until that moment to explore the Strip, and thought that I probably should. With fifty dollars in gambling funds in my pocket, I started at the Stratosphere and began making my way down the strip toward the Luxor. By the time I made it to the black pyramid, I had ten dollars left, which I dropped into a single high-payoff slot machine.

A thousand dollars dropped out!

For the next hour I visited the tables and worked my winnings, drinking fine wine and living in the moment. Sure, it wasn't very responsible of me, but the lure of Vegas is irresistible sometimes. And to my continued good fortune, I actually continued my winning streak. By the time I was through for the night, I was no less than fifteen hundred dollars ahead!

The thing that was to change my life, though, hadn't actually happened yet.

I immediately upgraded my economy room to a suite, and spent the next hour luxuriating in the Jacuzzi. Unfortunately, I knew my relief from tension was short-lived. The next day it would be back to the grind with work, the stress of dealing with Lisa Hayes, and though I was a little richer for the experience it still didn't change the fact that my job, and my life, were going nowhere. That's not to say that nothing ever would change that fact, though, as I found out when I emerged from the bath.

The room had a small personal safe, into which I decided to place my remaining winnings. Upon opening the safe, I discovered that the room's previous occupant had left something behind. It was a red velvet jewelry case, heavy and obviously holding something of value. I went to the phone to call the front desk and report it, but for some reason I couldn't take the action of lifting the receiver and making the call. Instead, I opened the case.

Inside was a necklace. The chain and amulet were made of a dark, lustrous gray metal, smooth and shiny, heavy to the feel. The amulet itself was of an unusual design: a pair of circles interlocked, with crosses underneath, and at the center of each circle was a large, dark red ruby. It felt warm in my hand.

The chain had no clasp, but was large enough to slip over my head. I had almost done so before I stopped myself. This thing wasn't mine, after all. It had been left by whoever had previously used the room. For some reason, though, I couldn't shake the urge to put it on, wear it, admire myself in the mirror.

I placed the necklace on the bed and removed my clothes (why? I couldn't have answered that at the time). Once I was completely naked, I picked up the amulet and walked to the mirrored wall at one side of the bedroom, looking at my own reflection. Ever since my failed start at modeling, I had let myself go a bit. My waist had softened, my skin tone had dropped a bit, my hair and makeup no longer professional grade. In addition, I was tired from a long day, and my underwire bra had left some unattractive marks on my skin. I can't say I was entirely happy with what I saw in the mirror, even though objectively speaking there was nothing really wrong with me.

I held the necklace up in front of me, watching how the rubies caught the light and twinkled in my eyes. For a disconcerting moment, I felt like it was looking back at me. Slowly, as if aware that I was making a bigger choice than just trying on a necklace, I slipped it over my head and let it rest just above and between my breasts.

A warm shiver ran through me. I closed my eyes and moaned in response to an almost orgasmic pleasure, a tingle that started where the amulet touched me and spread over my skin to the tips of my fingers and toes. The feeling was like being immersed in a pool of warm seltzer, relaxing and invigorating at the same time. My body felt as though it were floating off the ground and glowing with a warm, red light.

I opened my eyes, and beheld a transformation.

It was still me in the mirror, but I had never seen myself in such a way. My eyes had brightened, my hair luminous and flowing. The minor blemishes on my skin had vanished utterly. My breasts, which had always been a bit too large to avoid sagging, were suddenly supporting themselves in utter defiance of gravity. They had even enlarged a bit, and my nipples had hardened into dark red peaks over half an inch long and perhaps three inches wide.

My body had toned, leaving me with visible abs and wonderfully defined legs, which had also gone silky smooth despite my not having shaved in three days. I looked at my hands, and saw that the paper cuts inevitable to a secretary had vanished, and my nails looked professionally manicured. Looking back in the mirror, I saw that my eyelashes had lengthened, my cheekbones had raised just slightly, and my lips had become full, red, and shining wet of their own accord.

I had, in short, become my own idealized version of myself.

The amulet had done this; of that there was no question. Its rubies glowed briefly as I watched, then faded to reflect only the light of the room.

* * * * *

All my exhaustion had fled. I felt not like someone who had just finished a long and active day, but one who had just awakened from a twelve-hour sleep. I couldn't stay in the room; I had to get out. I actually came close to walking out nude before I realized that it would probably be a good idea to dress.

I had brought a formal red dress along, on the off chance that I might actually need such a thing, and I pulled it on quickly. My new breasts needed no support, and so for the first time in ten years I tossed the bra aside. My three-inch heels actually felt comfortable on my feet. I sat down to apply some makeup, but quickly realized that I didn't need any, nor did my hair require so much as a brushing.

In less than five minutes I was out the door and ringing for the elevator. I remembered that the boy running the lift had caught my eye on the way up, and I wondered if he might still be there, now that I knew I was irresistible. Sure enough, the doors opened, and his eyes went wide at the sight of me.

"Wh-what floor, please?" he stammered.

"Lobby," I replied. Oddly, he didn't seem all that attractive to me anymore, though I could tell he'd be putty in my hands if I wanted him to. I couldn't imagine that my newly discovered appeal had already made me decide he was out of my league – for one thing, I'm just not that shallow.

On the way down, I thought about other men I had found attractive, men from work, guys I knew in school, celebrity hunks, and I found that none of them seemed all that great anymore. For the first time, I began to wonder if the gift of the amulet came at a price. I had the face and figure of a goddess, but the sex drive of a mannequin. Was it a worthwhile trade? I wasn't sure.

When I emerged from the elevator, it was into a crowd that instantly parted in my presence. The mostly-male group got a good look at me as I passed, and while I found the attention stimulating I couldn't shake the melancholy of the fact that these men did nothing for me in return. Still, I couldn't bear the idea of taking the necklace off just yet. I felt that it was somehow becoming part of me, and while that thought scared me a little, it also felt warm and intimate. It seemed like a gift, a beautiful gift, left just for me.

My only concern was, at what cost did all this come? The loss of my sex drive seemed a small price to pay, except that somewhere deep within me there was a lingering desire. I desperately wanted to feel the rapture of sexual contact, but was at a loss insofar as how exactly to achieve it. Somehow I knew my own hand wouldn't do the trick.

"May I get you something to drink?"

The voice of the waitress startled me out of my own thoughts. I turned to look at her –

– and time came to a complete stop.

She was slim, petite, and blonde. Her hair was held up in a fanciful style, her outfit reminiscent of the Egyptian theme of the casino. Her eyes were green, bright, and very beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful.

I felt an indescribable yearning to touch her, kiss her, make her my own.

The girl, for her own part, seemed transfixed by me. Her mouth dropped open in shock, her cheeks flushed, her lovely eyes went wide. She actually trembled under my gaze. "My God," she whispered, "you're so beautiful!"

The obvious truth struck me at that moment. The meaning of the amulet became obvious: the Venus sign, the symbol of femininity, one embracing another. It was not for men to give me what I craved, it was for women. I wanted this lovely girl, to feel her body next to me, to give her pleasure and let her please me in return. I felt her burning lust and it increased my own, until I felt I might take her right then and there.

But I was still in control, and through a powerful effort of will, I suppressed my needs for the moment. "Red wine," I said. "A glass of your finest, please."

"R-right away, Miss," she said, and turned reluctantly to go.

I looked around the room. Everywhere I turned, a pair of female eyes were upon me. They were all watching me, desiring me, ignoring whomever else they were with at the moment in order to drink of my beauty. It took enormous effort to turn away from their eyes, and ignore the longing within me for each of them, any of them, all of them. I could almost feel their lust, see the images they conjured in their heads, images where they loved and worshipped my body with hands, lips, and tongues. The amulet felt warm against my bare skin, as if charged by the sheer sexual energy that surrounded me.

My waitress returned with a glass of wine, then left quickly as if trying to hide her lustful feelings. I sipped the wine slowly, without tasting it, wondering what I should do. It would be all too easy to give in to my new feelings (I had never felt the slightest lesbian tendencies until then) but I couldn't help but think that there was something very wrong about it. Not that I think there's something deviant about homosexual behavior, I'm not like that, it was more that I knew that this particular attraction was unnatural. It couldn't be that I had happened to stumble upon a bar filled with lesbians – something was making them want me, and that something could only be the amulet. I didn't like the idea that I might be compelling women against their will.

Abruptly, I got up from the table, threw a twenty down to cover my tab, and walked out.

* * * * *

I made my way quickly through the lobby, noticing that the women I passed all turned to watch me, while the men seemed to be taking only slight interest. My own reactions were harder to ignore, and I found that I wanted to reach out and touch those lovely, firm, feminine bodies as I walked by. The need grew ever stronger, and I knew that eventually I would have to give in to it, but I still couldn't bear to remove the amulet.

Once outside, I was engulfed by the crowd that walked the strip. I wasn't in the mood for so many people, so I walked for a block off the strip and took the less crowded path. Normally it isn't entirely smart for a woman to walk in empty streets at night, but somehow I felt safe, as if the amulet were protecting me.

Besides, the streets weren't entirely empty. There were others who for one reason or another chose to avoid the strip, and I didn't meet their eyes. It was easier that way. I walked without looking up at all, for many blocks, and when I finally did stop and take notice of where I was I was startled to find I had walked the full length of the strip and then some, well past the spire of the Stratosphere and almost half the distance to downtown. I had left the crowd behind me some time ago. Oddly, though I'd just walked a few miles in high heels, my feet didn't hurt.

I headed back over to Las Vegas Boulevard to get my bearings. I wasn't lost, of course – it's hard to get lost when there's a blaze of glowing buildings marking the path. I found myself facing a little porn-and-strip club, and if for no other reason than the fact that I was slightly chilled, I decided to head inside.

The interior had the scent of dust and cigarette smoke. It wasn't what you would call a classy joint, but it was reasonably clean. Racks of movie boxes with sensuous, slutty faces stared out at me, though to my own surprise they didn't get my blood up. Presumably, it had to be a real woman.

The man behind the counter looked briefly up at me, nodded, and went back to his little black-and-white TV. My effect on men was definitely wearing off, and I imagined my effect on women could be growing stronger by comparison. I had made up my mind to go when I noticed that the store offered live shows in the back. Curiosity took hold of me and led me into the black-painted rooms at the rear of the store.

I found a corkboard on the wall with a few polaroids of the night's featured "models". They looked like pretty girls, with nice bodies, and I found myself wondering what the live show might be like. I certainly had a longing to see some naked female flesh. I chose one of the girls at random, an olive-skinned beauty named "Sapphire", and made my way into one of the booths.

It was small and dark, but clean. I read the list of prices on the wall: five dollar activation, minimum twenty dollar tip for a single girl, sixty for two girls. My mouth watered at the prospect of seeing a lesbian show, but something stopped me from that action. Perhaps I was afraid of the intensity of my own desires.

I picked up the phone by the still-opaque window in front of me, and heard a female voice on the other end. "Hi, what can we do for you tonight?" she asked brightly.

My throat was dry. "I'd like to see Sapphire," I said, trying to keep my voice normal.

"Okay, she'll be right with you!" the voice replied. "Just hold the phone a moment…"

I waited, a growing dampness between my legs telling me how turned on I was by the sheer anticipation of the moment. I could hear shuffling noises on the other side of the window, and wondered what to expect.

"Hi," said a new voice on the phone. "This is Sapphire. Are you ready?"

"Yes," I said.

"Okay, I'll need twenty dollars to start."

I had anticipated this, of course, and slipped the twenty through the slot.

"Great, thanks. Now, put a five into the other slot, and that will open the window."

I slipped the money in with a trembling hand, and the window instantly cleared.

She reclined on her back, on a cushioned platform, facing me. Her legs were spread wide and her hand caressed her smooth, shaved pussy, rolling her clit back and forth. Her breasts were likewise bare, and they were firm and round, her nipples tense and hard. She smiled sweetly at me with full, red lips. "Hey there," she said. "I'm glad you came by tonight."

"Um, thanks," I replied, unsure of the appropriate response in such a situation.

"So, did you want to see anything special?"

I had no idea what she meant by that. "Just what you normally do," I replied.

She smiled again, and lifted her hips to give me an even closer look at her lovely pink pussy. I had never seen one so close before, and it seemed like such a beautiful thing, soft and smooth and so sweet. Her eyes went heavy as she pleasured herself, and I heard her purr with contentment.

"I love performing for a woman," she said. "Making love to another woman can be so erotic. Do you like what you see?"

"Mm-hm," I replied, unable to say anything else.

Suddenly the curtain behind her opened, and another girl peeked inside. Her mouth opened in surprise. "Oops," she said. "I was just coming back in to pick up my panties."

Of course, I knew that she hadn't come in by accident, but I played along. "That's all right," I replied.

To my delight, she leaned over the other girl's body, her large and full tits rubbing against the Sapphire's smooth skin. "Actually, the two of us are really good friends," she said with a wink. "Maybe you'd like to see?"

I nodded slowly. Like it or not, I was about to get the full show.

"What's it worth to you?" she asked.

Money didn't matter at this point, and even if I hadn't been successful at the tables, I think I would have hocked my car to get a look at this show. "I'll give you another forty," I said, not wanting to be taken advantage of even if I could afford it.

"Great," she replied. "I'm Nikki."

I put two more twenties through the slot. Before the bills hit the platform, Nikki let her long tongue down and took a gentle taste of Sapphire's pussy. Her eyes stayed locked on me as she tickled her lover's clit, and spread her lips with the tips of her fingers.