[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 677 & 678.

Chapter 677: Everyone wants to be special.

I really don’t like that this happened, but the talk I had with Fernanda… kinda drained the lust out of me. I’d been looking forward to continuing where we left off with Mila and doing all sorts of other cool stuff with the others, but thinking of how I handled that previous situation left me in something of a downer mood.

When the party was over, Maria offered to drive my mom and Isabelle to the house, so I took the van and drove to Diana’s house with Alice, Mila and Grace. Sarah and Noelle were in Diana’s car.

We made the conscious decision to not talk about you-know-what until we were all together, and when we arrived at Diana’s house, it was the first thing we did.

I sank down on the couch and let out a heavy sigh. “So? Let it all out,” I told them.

“Noelle and Diana won the bet, for starters,” Sarah said. “They both guessed that you’d tell her about Frey before even trying anything else.”

“It was an educated guess,” Diana said. “He did the same with me, after all.”

“And let’s not forget I had to turn the tables on him and be the one to ask him out because he didn’t want to try to get me to accept being in a harem,” Noelle said.

“I just… Is it wrong to give someone all the relevant information before they make a decision on something so important?” I asked.

“It’s not wrong,” Grace agreed. “But it’s not the best opening move.”

“I know that, but what else could I have done?”

“Let’s just say I’m glad I’m not in your position,” Mila said, sitting next to me and kissing my cheek.

I sighed. “What did she say?”

“Not much,” Alice said. “We told her what we knew, how it felt, what we thought about it. It was kind of the same thing we did with Diana.”

“I didn’t think I’d be on this side of the conversation so soon,” Diana admitted.

“We tried to assure her that, as weird as it all sounds, it becomes normal fairly quickly,” Noelle said.

“At the end of the day, though, it’s still all up to her,” Sarah said.

“I do think that telling her about Frey is the right move,” Mila said. “Like, we talk about it like it’s normal now, so trying to hide it would be awkward. But the issue is that… Mmm, how do I put it? I know you didn’t mean it like this, but when you tell her that she can either accept your situation or not, it almost sounds like you don’t care if you end up going out with her or not.”

Oh.

Ooooooh. Is that what the disappointment I felt from her was about?

“I think I agree,” Alice said. “People fall in love for a number of reasons. Maybe they like musicians, maybe they like soft-spoken people, maybe they prefer them shorter or maybe they just like cute boys wearing glasses.” Alice smirked at me as she listed those traits. “But at the end of the day, what people like the most is when their partner makes them feel special, right?”

“Pretty much,” Mila agreed, then turned to me again. “If a girl believes you’ll be just fine with her saying no, then it’s likely that she will because she thinks you don’t value her enough.”

“Yeah, but that’s a whole other can of worms,” Sarah said, groaning. “Then you start getting the ones who want to see people beg, or those that feel insulted just because someone isn’t flirting with them 24/7. I think Mila’s onto something, but I also doubt that Fernanda is one of those.”

“So… You’re saying I should’ve tried to convince her regardless?” I asked.

“I wish we could say that,” Grace said. “But we don’t have the answer, either. For what it’s worth, I think that what you did was fine. Sure, it won’t win her over, but she has all the information to make her decision. If not now, then later.”

I groaned and shook my head. “Maybe it did come out as if I didn’t care either way.”

“Just give it time,” Diana said. “It’s not like we expected you to come back holding hands from there. You were upfront with her, told her where you stand and gave her time to think about it. Once she’s sorted out her thoughts you can talk again.”

“I agree. Sleeping on it helps,” Noelle said.

“Ugh, I had almost forgotten how awkward this all was, and I was happier that way!” I groaned.

“Yeah, can’t say I miss the early dating stages,” Sarah said. “Too many questions, rarely any actual satisfaction.”

“Wait, is this officially your longest relationship now?” Mila asked Sarah.

Sarah glanced up at the ceiling, counting in her head. “Yep, it is. Yours too, right Grace?”

“It has been for two months already,” Grace confirmed. “Diana?”

“Hey, it’s not even been half a year for me yet,” Diana said as she walked over to the bar. “But yes, it is. No one else has been able to put up with me for this long.”

“So you’d only dated idiots, got it,” Grace said, nodding in understanding.

“Your last relationship only lasted three months, right Alice?” Mila asked the blonde.

Alice nodded. “And I’d hardly call it a relationship. It was in name only.”

“Then Noelle and I are the only ones who didn’t have previous dating experience,” Mila said.

“Officially, but you did have stuff going on with one or two guys before, if only for a couple of days,” Grace said, smirking teasingly.

“Hey, you can’t call that experience! You can’t call that anything! Nothing happened beyond a few looks and a couple of ‘maybes,’” Mila adamantly argued.

“Maybes?” I asked.

“As in, ‘Maybe we could go on a date?’ and I answered ‘Yeah, maybe’ and they never got back to me,” Mila clarified.

“If you answered ‘maybe,’ then of course they didn’t get back to you,” Diana said.

“Yeah, that sounds like a polite no to me,” Noelle said.

“Wait, really?” Mila asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought I was being coy!”

“And the mystery of how Mila never got a boyfriend before Oliver has been resolved, everyone,” Alice said, giggling.

“Honestly, I’m still baffled and Oliver and Noelle didn’t get together earlier,” Sarah said. “I mean, sorry to say I’m thankful for it, but you guys had already met thanks to Isabelle and you would’ve hit it off even back then.”

“No, we wouldn’t have,” I told her. “I’ve said it before. We weren’t the same people we are now.”

“I do think it’s a healthier way to look at it,” Alice said, then giggled. “But yes, I’m also thankful you didn’t get together before. If you had, we wouldn’t be here.”

“How are you so sure?” Noelle asked.

“Come on, do you seriously see Oliver cheating on you?” Grace asked her.

The redhead chuckled. “No, I suppose he wouldn’t.”

“Glad we can finally admit none of this would've happened if not for Frey’s powers,” I said.

“She opened a door and we decided to walk in,” Sarah said with a shrug.

“Let’s hope Fernanda sees it that way, too.”

“Like I said, just give her time,” Diana said.

I could only hope she’d be willing to talk to me after this.

************

Chapter 678: Intermission - Fernanda’s thoughts.

Fernanda wasn’t lying when she told Oliver that she wasn’t sure if she was feeling anything at all after he told her about the magic stuff. It was an idea so out there that she wasn’t sure what to think, or if to even believe it.

How likely was it that everyone was in on it and they were just pranking her? Oliver showed her that thing with the door, but there had to be normal ways to prevent a door from closing or magicians pulling rabbits out of their hats would hold all the power in the world. No, somehow those six girls were better proof that something more supernatural was happening. 

Fernanda got home, threw herself on her bed and groaned into a pillow.

Okay, so of course polyamorous relationships exist. They might not be common, but they exist and to each their own. That said… Six women and a single man? Not to mention… she hadn’t really questioned it a lot until now. At most she wondered how they made it work, but no more than that. Only now she was realizing that, yeah, it wasn’t normal. Was that magic, too?

Honestly, Fernanda’s mind drifted to the inner workings of the magic, if such a thing really existed. Did it have rules? What was it field by? Did people cast spells or was it just something magic users did on a whim? Oliver had written something that looked like runes, so was that how it worked or was that only one system? If magic existed, then were there more people who could use magic? Likely. As an enthusiast of fantasy stories, she couldn’t help but ask herself these questions.

But because she had read and watched plenty of fantasy stories with lots of magic, she really did have to ask herself… Was any sort of mind control involved here?

Oliver said his powers were mostly sexual in nature. What did that mean, exactly? her brain said it was a dangerous question, but… Fernanda wanted to know. What could he do with those powers? Could he… make his thing grow to a ridiculous size? Could he make a woman’s chest grow? Or maybe it was just something as simple as making sex feel really good?

He said his powers may or may not have had something to do with the other girls being willing to share a boyfriend. So maybe there WAS some sort of mind-play at work?

Fernanda quickly sat up on her bed, eyes wide. Was she under some sort of spell, then!? Was that why she didn’t feel put off by all this stuff?

“...”

She couldn’t bring herself to believe it. Really, she couldn’t imagine it. The way the girls talked didn’t give any hints that that was the case. Thomas and Isabelle also knew, as did Oliver’s mom. And the way he told her about it was so nonchalant, too. She couldn’t bring herself to believe Oliver was the type to do this sort of thing, but it wasn’t like she knew him all that well.

Fernanda got off the bed and took off her party clothes. Then, as she stood in her underwear, she looked at herself in the full-body mirror. She grimaced and pursed her lips as she ran her hands up her curves.

She was… attractive, right? Fernanda cupped her chest. Her boobs were big, too. If she compared herself to the other girls, she had a very similar body type. She was shorter than Diana but taller than the others. Oliver said he liked her, but was it only because he liked her body? It had been like that with other guys, and… it wasn’t like there were many other reasons to like her.

She clicked her tongue and shook her head hard, making her long hair fly all over the place. Her doctor had advised to avoid thinking like that. He said he understood it was hard, but that going down that road was a spiral pit.

How about… looking at it another way? Oliver liked her. He liked her because… because she was hot. Yes. Fernanda was hot. She liked her own body, that much she could say. She had a nice figure that she worked hard to keep, watching what she ate and exercising regularly. That consistency and diligence over the years that also bled into her drawing practice was the one thing she was genuinely proud of. So… was it really so terrible if someone liked her for her body? Maybe it wasn’t… so long as it wasn’t the only thing.

Fernanda narrowed her eyes and saw the shift in the mirror. She decided to ask yet another question. Why did she like Oliver? He was cute, yes. He had a strong body, too. And the way he played guitar, especially with his cat at his side… it made her heart throb. But above everything else was the short time they worked together at the coffee shop.

For a long time, Fernanda looked up to Oliver for being everything she wanted to be. Competent, reliable, skilled in the arts, good with people. Then, when they started working together, she worried she’d get in his way or that he’d look down on her for being terrible at everything. Instead of that, he helped her. No, he didn’t just simply help her. He… gave her time, advice and hints so she could develop her own skills and grow into her role at work. In doing that, Fernanda was now able to continue her work there, even after he was gone. He gave her the tools to stand on her own two feet, and that was just…

Okay, fine. She liked him. She liked him A LOT. If she imagined herself with him… Wait. Imagining herself… with him?

With Oliver?

Powers… sexual in nature?

…

She saw her own eyes shooting wide open in her own reflection as well as her face changing colors from the sudden heat.

Fernanda… in his arms… below him… his eyes locked on hers…

Her heart thundered, her ears burned and her crotch…! God, that such a thing could even be a possibility! And a real one. He said he wanted to talk again when she had thought things through. Fernanda… needed to sleep on this. Her ideas were still all over the place. And also… she wanted to ask him if there was any way for him to prove that he wasn’t using whatever powers he had in… evil ways. She doubted he could, really, but if she could at least hear what he would say…

Yes, Fernanda had to sleep on this. But before that, she needed a pencil. The images in her mind were WAY too clear and explicit, and she needed to put them in paper.

…

Then hide them very, VERY well.