Amorous Goods: The Necklace

Vivienne tapped the table with a purple fingernail and observed Lilith's reactions. The half-elf was much whiter than she had been when they'd started. The previous part of the story had made her nipples harden and her chest flush as Lilith described fucking the demon. Earlier her face, when describing Morgan's condo, had been composed and emotionless. Vivienne knew her own body had been responding to the story, the occasional flush followed by a moistening of her cunt. As a professional auditor, she was mentally noting not only Lilith's reaction but also her own for later recording. The Black Tower archive was thorough.

"What is the meaning of this, Auditor?," Templeton shouted into Sister Vivienne's mind. "Explain the situation before she has a stroke."

The council functionary, eyes narrowed to slits, stood and gathered the cards and grabbed her folder. As soon as the cards were gathered the table disappeared and Sister Vivienne stepped behind her bench. Lilith, snapped out of her trance, looked up with a questioning look and tears welling in her eyes.

Sister Vivienne waived her arm and the glamour filling the room with a universe of stars and mist stopped immediately. The cold, gray room appeared again and Lilith felt as if the world were coming to an end. Cold reality was too much for her right now.

Vivienne waived her arm once more and the gray meeting room dissolved the same way the stars and mist had. Lilith was not sitting in a conference room but in the main chamber of the Council. Her bench sat before the five ancient witches who ruled over the magical community surrounding their Black Tower. Hidden by the glamour, the young witch had been before the council the entire time.

Lilith, reeling from the shock, looked around the room. The door Sister Vivienne had entered through was right where it had been before but the table behind which the council sat had been just on the other side of the side wall. Lilith turned her head and noted that there were at least a dozen other people seated on benches behind her. Their faces were hidden in the shadows, but they were all skyclad.

The only clothed people in the hall were guards who lined the room and barred the exits, halberds and swords shining lethally in the dim candle light. Five elderly witches, distinct in their similarities, sat behind the behemoth, wooden table. Skyclad, their age was written in the wrinkles and creases that covered their ancient hides. Paper-thin skin stretched and sagged. Their eyes and faces did little to betray their feelings. The eldest in the middle seemed little more than a skeleton, thin hair hanging in loose braids framing her delicate face. Lilith wondered how many seasons she had witnessed. Indeed, how many seasons all five had witnessed in sum total? Lilith lowered her head in respect.

A gavel banged on the council's table and a weary voice called the entire room to order. Lilith feared what was to come.

"Maiden," an old woman's voice addressed Lilith, "what troubles you?"

Lilith screwed up her courage. "The final card, Mother. I do not yet know the fate of my sisters."

"Or that of your beau, I'd wager!," answered the same voice. "Bring forth the mojo!"

A guard standing along one wall stepped forward with a leather bag and withdrew Lilith's brightly glowing mason jar. He placed it on the desk in front of the council and took his place back along the wall.

"Death, dear maiden, can mean many things in a reading. Sometimes it means someone passing through the veil into the great unknown. Sometimes it means nothing more than change. And what is change when the only constant in any life is change?," the elderly witch approached the mason jar. The strong, pale light was reflected from the old woman like the sun's rays from the moon.

"My, my, my," the voice said. "Such power. This was the bait that hooked your demon. This is the cause of all your misfortune." The old witch rapped her long, gray-yellow nails on the cold glass of the jar. "You ask about your sisters. You wonder about your lover. You fear releasing the hellish creature that took so much from you. Watch, dear. Between the five of us we have centuries of experience knitting and know how to unravel even the toughest knots!"

Lilith watched as the old witch tapped the glass one last time and three strands of blue light slowly slipped out the top of the mason jar. All the while the five old women hummed and rocked, their breasts swinging in time to a spell shared by the five. The humming continued to intensify as the blue strands slipped off of the table and pooled on the floor before the table. A few seconds later the humming ended and three skyclad people stood in front of Lilith.

Her two sisters and Simon.

Shock registered on their faces as they realized where they were and what they were not wearing. Simon dropped his hands to cover his cock (still rock-hard) and turned a deep shade of red. Madeleine stood next to Simon, her gray-pink hair a mess and nasty bite marks on her shoulders. Morgan stood on Simon's other side, purple eyes flashing anger as she turned to face her attacker.

A bench appeared beside Lilith and one of the crones ordered the three to take a seat. Simon half ran, protecting his modesty the whole way. Madeleine and Morgan followed, murder written on their faces. They took a seat next to him, but left as much room as possible so they would not be sitting too close to the young man.

Sister Vivienne stepped behind Simon and used an enchanted monocle to inspect the back of his head. She roughly pushed his head down when Simon tried to turn and face her. The inspection went on for some minutes before the auditor tucked the monocle back into her folder and nodded toward the council.

"I think it is only fair to give your sisters an account of what happened," said one of the councilors. "If it please you, Maiden, I would like to have the honor."

Lilith, still shocked at the return of her missing loved ones, nodded assent.

"You were tricked by a demon. The young man next to you was possessed by a hellish power and used your own practice against you. While you thought you were collecting his mojo, he was using a powerful fetish doll to collect all of your energies. Your sister discovered the trick and turned it against him. You have been returned to flesh and blood by this council, the demon will remain trapped in the mason jar and kept under guard in our archives."

"And him?," Morgan looked at Simon as she rose to her feet, flushed with anger. "I ask that I be granted the right to take his life," the witch hissed.

"Goodness me," cackled the crone's voice. "You cannot claim what you did not earn! His fate rests in the hands of the one who both defeated and rescued him, in the hands of your sister, the maiden."

All eyes turned to Lilith.

Epilogue:

Winter Solstice, 9 PM, Boston

Steam rose from the hot water of the Jacuzzi and lay like a blanket over the small balcony overlooking Mount Auburn Cemetery. The night following the shortest day of the year was clear and crisp, stars glittered in the night sky despite the light pollution from the surrounding city. The steam, rolling like smoke along the floor, kicked up at the edge rail and offered a bit of privacy otherwise lacking. The whole world was empty except for the two lovers.

Orange hair floated in the water next to Lilith's face as she lay back against the side of the Jacuzzi and allowed a combination of Simon's tongue and the jets to massage her more sensitive areas. The young witch's feet were spread wide and propped up on the edges, her toes steaming in the frigid, winter air. The golden necklace sat squarely between the young witch's buoyant breasts, giving off a warmth that allowed her nipples to ignore the cool air above the steaming water. The witch never took off the necklace.

Lilith closed her eyes as she felt her second orgasm spread out from her sex, simultaneously relaxing and spasming her muscles, overwhelming her breathing. Simon had been so good these past few weeks, training hard at everything Lilith put before him, tonight was a welcome respite from the usual evenings of mentoring. Once the orgasm ended, Lilith sunk into the warm water to join Simon at the bottom of the Jacuzzi.

Simon, expressly forbidden from touching himself at all, had both hands stretched out and resting on the seats along the sides of the tub. He did not trust himself not to give into his own urges. Lilith sat cross-legged in front of him and leaned in for a kiss. A long, sultry kiss with lots of tongue. She held both sides of his face and felt his strong jaw muscles work as they made out. Slowly she moved her hands down to his shoulders, then his chest, finally settling on his thighs only inches from his aching cock.

"Someone is ready for some attention," Lilith said. Her voice was distorted by the water but Simon indicated his understanding by pulling her face back to his while her hands worked their way up and down his dick ever so slowly.

Part of Lilith's agreement with her sisters had been that she and Simon would not have a physical relationship for one year from All-Saints Day. Frustrated but willing to concede to her sister's wishes, the witch had forbidden Simon from pleasuring himself unless she expressly gave him permission. A magic spell would have ensured his compliance, but Lilith knew Simon would obey. He was afraid of both her sisters and the Witch's Council and knew to break his word would have dire consequences.

Lilith jacked Simon's cock while they kissed. Even underwater she could tell he was producing copious amounts of precum. "Thank goodness we don't have to clean this Jacuzzi," she thought as she broke the kiss to lower her head down to Simon's cock.

Just as she felt Simon stiffen and begin to buck, a claw raked itself across the bottom of her foot. Templeton.

Lilith spun her necklace around and found herself laying on the guest bed back in her apartment. Tearing off her sleep-mask and rearranging her silk robe, Lilith glared at her familiar.

"I hope this is important," she said. "We were in the middle of practice."

"Is that what the kids are calling fucking these days?," Templeton replied. "If I knew you were "practicing", I would have joined you in the young man's subconscious, luv. But I'm not some bloody voyeur and I know when plausible deniability is warranted. If you don't want to explain this little...tableau to Madeleine, I suggest you put on some clothing. She sent a message via crystal ball that she would be here soon."

Simon stirred in his sleep but rolled onto his side without waking. The familiar was right, Madeleine would not be thrilled to find Lilith having a psychic relationship with Simon. Lilith pulled on yoga pants and a warm sweatshirt from the floor next to the bed, she would get tea ready. Madeleine always wanted a cup of her spiced tea.

Before leaving the room, Lilith took a look back at Simon. He had moved into this extra room the week after Halloween and started his apprenticeship almost right away. He was still enrolled in college, but his class load was just light enough that he could spend his evenings studying the basics of magic with her. Once he had the basics figured out, Madeleine would be taking over to train Simon in healing magic. He was a medical student after all. Lilith knew his talents lay in directions other than her own. One day, with a little luck and some hard work, he would be a doctor the magical community could rely upon for special treatments.

Lilith closed the door and walked to the kitchen, the cold tile of the floor making her think of the Jacuzzi Simon had been dreaming of and the cold air around her feet as Simon ate her out. Did he know she was visiting him in his dreams? She put the kettle on to boil. Maybe. But he never said anything about it during the day. And he certainly did not complain of having wet dreams every night since he'd moved in.

Lilith poured the boiling water over the exotic tea leaves and even more exotic herbs, dried fruits, and spices filling the room with the cozy aroma of the old world. It was a smell familiar from Lilith's childhood, one that evoked the kitchen in the small cabin where the four Roses lived together for years.

Madeleine had never visited often in the past, but since Halloween she had come by for tea each week. The reason for the visit was ostensibly to check up on Simon's progress, but the two sisters always ended up talking about everything but Simon. Lilith had never felt so close to her older sister. Perhaps one day Morgan would visit regularly, too.

A knock at the door ended Lilith's daydreaming. Templeton, ever helpful, jumped down from the couch and sat on the window-ledge that looked outside.

"Scones," he announced. "She has scones from that little bakery near her place."

Lilith smiled.

-The End-