Charm 04: Calm Before the Storm

Roji's fingers continued down across the curve of her shoulders, and down the outside of her arms. She drew in a breath sharply and bent forward, rocking up on the balls of her feet. She grasped the side rail of the deck for balance and ground herself backward against him. She gasped as his shaft slipped forward between her legs and brushed against her pulsating vulva.

"Yes," she moaned. "But no." She stepped away, turned, and sat on the bench, crossing her thighs and glaring at him through the spray of water. "As much as I want to help you with that -- and the reciprocal -- we're not allowed to right now, and for good reason. From the looks of it, this summoning is going to be complicated enough as it is, we don't want to run into problems with running short of charm too, neh?"

Tiska had sat down because the bench was in the way, and it was the farthest she could get from Roji without moving past him. She had crossed her legs in an attempt to close herself off from him, but the whole thing now seemed like a bad idea. Her eyes were level with his crotch again, and she was having a very difficult time keeping her gaze on his face. Her distended lips were rubbing against the seat and getting squeezed between her thighs, and she had to fight to keep her breathing steady.

Even her arms, which she folded across her chest to shield her breasts from view, were causing her nipples to tingle and stand up even more. With every breath, they rubbed against her arms, drawing her attention to them even more, as well as further increasing blood flow to them.

To her relief, Roji hung his head and stepped back. He muttered a quick drying incantation and left without another word to her. She sighed and slumped against the railing. It had taken an incredible act of will to pull herself away from him, and she didn't know if she could have kept putting him off if he'd kept trying.

She stood and returned to the water to finish rinsing off. Even her own hands were making her tingle all over. Rubbing at a spot of dirt on the back of her knee sent jolts down to her toes and up to her clitoris. Scrubbing at the underside of her chin sent waves of lightning up to both ears and down her spine.

At one point she caught herself with one hand gently pulling on a nipple, the other splaying her curtains and rubbing the nub between them. She forced her hands to her sides, and planted her feet flat on the floor. Drawing another deep breath, she turned the water off and stood there dripping for a moment.

She couldn't stay there, however. The breeze was caressing her just as sensuously as Roji had, eddies wafting across her chest and tonguing her ears, the evaporation of the water sending more chills down her back and keeping her nipples painfully erect. She hurriedly waved the water away and grabbed her robe.

She slipped it on as she pushed back into the house, through the curtain of beads. There was an enchantment on them, similar to that on the doorway of the ritual room, that would keep the heat of the house in the inner part of the room, and prevent it from leaking out in the winter. The water outside could be made plenty hot enough to keep a person warm while bathing, even in the depths of winter, but the internal heat needed to be kept there. She only wished that the curtain could keep her own heat outside, and let her return to her normal cool self as she reentered the house. She closed her eyes again and took one more breath before opening the door.

As she emerged, Roji was coming out of his room, the bulge at his crotch small, but still present. He smiled weakly at her. "I know I can't come, but I could do something for you, if you want."

Her smile was warm but strained. "That's sweet. And as tempting as that is, you'll need to last as long as possible for the ritual, so no, I can't let you anywhere near my methel between now and then. Have you asked about those pronunciations yet?"

Roji shook his head. Tiska nodded, and turned back toward the main area of the house. They found Sezithorum in the ritual room, still nude, except for the rag tied around his erect penis. He had charged and arranged the crystals around the circle as necessary, as well as the gong and seashell. The braziers were placed and lit, and he was working on loading them with the appropriate oils and herbs.

He saw them in the doorway, and called to them. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, master, though there are a couple—"

"Let me hear you recite your lines," he ordered as he swept between them back out into the lab. They proceeded to do a dry run of the ritual -- although "dry" is hardly the word when all participants are actively secreting fluids.

Sezithorum clarified that yes, in fact, "sthrok" was the correct pronunciation, but that "sthrak" was an acceptable variant, accounting for individual accent. "It will not matter, however, as long as you are confident and clear in your thoughts. Roji, have you learned to use the copy parchment yet? You two must each have a copy to which to refer."

"I believe so."

"Tiska, check him. Then we will begin."

"Yes, sir."

Sezithorum went to the sitting room and motioned to a large pillow on a low wooden frame. It lifted to about knee height, and at his behest floated toward the ritual room. He gently settled it to the ground in the southwest quadrant, careful not to disturb the chalk lines. The lines would inevitably get scuffed as events proceeded, but by that point it would no longer matter.

He collected and removed all unnecessary leftover accessories, then took one last look around. "Thus do I return to active duty," he mumbled sorrowfully.