Page 6 of Defined and Defiled (Ghostlight Falls)

Libidinous (adj.)

li·bid·i·nous : having or marked by lustful desires

There is a warm, light feeling that seems to take over the room. My chest suddenly feels too tight in my GFS Math-a-thon tee, and I would do anything to take it off. Richard's warm breath along my thighs is overwhelming. I have to squirm to draw his attention away. Melon jumps down and runs around the room, her tail wagging and tongue rolling out of her mouth like a red carpet.

“Is anything happening?”

Richard yells, but his voice is muffled from where he is pressed down against me. I rub my legs together, trying to think past these sensations. Melon hops on her hind legs.

“Something's happening all right. Something is for sure happening.”

It takes a lot of effort to close Richard, and I flip him over so I can see his face.

His pupils are as blown as I assume mine must be. The effect is not as strong now, but it is definitely there. My heart feels like I've run a marathon, all the aftermath of sex but none of the sweaty fun parts.

“So maybe we won't shoot the horny ray anymore?” I tease.

“What?”

Richard's forehead creases. I gesture towards my hard nipples, and Melon barks in agreement. His eyes shift towards my breast and his face is more of an open book than he was a few seconds ago. He licks his lips before drawing his wide eyes back up to my face.

“Oh,”

Richard mumbles.

“That explains it.”

I do not know if it's the lasting effects of being taken down by a lusty doodle, or genuine empathy, but I feel sorry for him.

“Let's look at what we've learned. We know that when I open you, your head stays on the cover.”

I look at him, and he nods slowly.

“We know that I can feel when you touch my pages.”

He adds.

“Or rip them.”

I wince. He's really not letting that go.

“Yes, and we know that you can float.”

“Fly,”

he corrects, but there is no bite in his tone. If anything, he seems to get more excited as we go through our list of facts. His 'S' starts to glow again, and he levitates out of my hold.

“And we know I have a doodle that makes us very, very,”

He pauses, “warm.”

I feel my cheeks flush.

“Yes. Warm. That's what we'll call it. It seems stronger when you’re open.”

I look down at Melon, who is still trying to bite the air where Richard was.

“It seemed to affect Melon, too. Although her way of showing affection is with slobber, so you should feel lucky you missed out on that.”

Melon barks at me, offended that I'd tell Richard the truth about her. She's quickly mollified by a scratch behind her ear.

“So the power works on humans, and there are aftereffects,”

Richard adds.

“Aftereffects?” I reply.

He hovers for a moment before answering, turning himself away from me.

“Do you not still feel it?”

He asks.

“I still feel..warm.”

It's harder to turn my teacher's brain off than my horny one. I have to fight the urge to tell Richard to find a thesaurus and come up with a new synonym.

“You still feel lustful?”

I ask slowly.

“You don't?” He asks.

I bite my lip to avoid talking about what this might mean or any of the other million questions bouncing around in my head.

Do the doodles affect him more since they're inside him? What would it have done if it were a broken heart? Did C.H.

and Z.B.

end up together in the end? I want to try again, but that won't work if Richard is too embarrassed.

What does it even mean to feel horny as a book? Does he want me to slide a thick, hard bookmark into his pages?

Should I add some delicious annotations in his waiting margins or lay down some sensual tabs on his side?

Would he throw on a dust jacket for some safe sex? It could be worth investigating all of the possibilities.

I reach out to grasp him, turning him around to face me.

“I may not be feeling overwhelmed with passion anymore, but I am more than willing to kiss. For science's sake.”

He blinks at me.

“Yes, yes. As an experiment. Just to see how the lingering effects work.”

I smile and look at him. His face doesn't seem to truly protrude from the book; it's more like it's behind a clear screen, floating in space. This kiss will take a lot more work on my end if I want it to be any good.

Under the watchful eyes of Melon and my ex-girlfriend’s ceramic goose collection, I pull Richard close to me. At first, kissing him is not that much different than when I would kiss posters of a certain brotherly boy band in middle school. It's a little humbling to have my lips pressed against the cover, even if there is a man's face trapped on the other side of it. I wonder what Mike would think if he knew I turned down his date so I could go home and attempt to make out with a book.

Then something changes. There's a slight give to Richard's cover, and suddenly I can feel him pressing against the barrier. His mustache tickles my face, and I almost break our kiss, surprised that I can feel it. Then there's the tongue.

At first it’s about as sensual as someone sticking their tongue out through gum, and then there is a pop and I can actually feel him on my skin, and in my mouth. Perhaps, there were still lingering effects for me too, because what starts as tentative exploration soon morphs, as I find myself actually enjoying this kiss.

I find myself running a finger through his pages, hoping I don’t get a papercut. Half-hoping that I will so I can snap out of this. Melon makes the decision for me as she bites down on my ankle. I pull out of the embrace, panting.

The gold light of the 'S' on his forehead fades, and he settles into my arms. I didn't notice how much of his weight he was keeping off of me before. I look down on him. It would stand to reason that a kiss like that should leave you changed in some kind of way, but he doesn't look any different.

“So no changing back after True Love's kiss and all that?” I joke.

His eyebrows fly up.

“True love?”

“True 'First-person-to-find you since It Takes Two went off the air' kiss, I mean.”

He rolls his eyes.

“Never watched it.”

The best way to make sure your results are accurate is to see if they can be repeated, so I am more than willing to 'experiment' again, but Melon barks, reminding me that she'll wither away if I don't feed her now.

Richard floats off around me as I give the biting princess her kibble.

“We should probably eat too.”

I turn to Richard.

“How do you eat?”

He settles down on the counter and watches as I peer into the fridge. The options are pretty scarce but Twyla has some leftovers she's helpfully abandoned.

“I'm not sure I do. I don't feel hungry and I'm not even sure I have a stomach anymore.”

“At least we know you won't turn into a bloodthirsty book if I don't feed you after midnight.”

I take Twyla's container and start eating it cold.

“You're not going to nuke that?”

Richard asks.

“No, I'm a firm believer that everything tastes better cold. The sauce just sticks to the noodles so much more after it cools off.”

Richard shifts over to me.

“That's interesting.”

“I know some people think it's weird but,”

I start my re-heated argument.

“Not that. When you were describing it to me, I felt something. Keep going.”

“Alright,”

I munch on half an eggroll.

“This place has the best wontons, they're so crispy and made fresh daily. The eggrolls are a close second.”

Richard closes his eyes and releases a low moan and I stop chewing so I can hear it clearly.

His eyes fly open.

“I'm sorry. I just,”

he shakes his head.

“I think I've found out how I eat. I feel full from your words.”

“Interesting indeed. Well, that probably saves a ton on groceries.”

I move over to the fridge and open it up. Nothing has changed in the last few moments, but now everything has new possibilities.

“So what are you in the mood for? We have almond milk, two eggs, and probably twenty loose ketchup packets.”

He closes his eyes.

“There were these snacks the kids always had, dunks? Diparoos? I can't remember, do you have any of those?”

I snort and shut the fridge.

“Not since I was twelve. Who'd have thought you'd have such a sweet tooth? Maybe we can go to the bakery tomorrow after school, and I can describe a cupcake to you?”

I was only teasing, but the look of joy on Richard's face tells me we'll have to do just that.

"Will you be listening to that cassette again on the way to work tomorrow?" He asks as he inspects the magnets on our fridge.

"Cassette?"

“Oh, you know. The wild one you were listening to when you ran us into that building.”

It takes me a second to catch up and when I do I can't contain my laugh.

“You mean my audiobook? Oh dear Richard, you have a lot to learn about modern technology. I don't know anyone who listens to cassettes anymore.”

He turns back to me, impatience coloring his voice.

“Well, will you be continuing?”

“I finished it when I took Melon out. I didn't figure you'd want to hear the rest.”

“Oh.”

He says and floats over to my couch.

I try to watch his face but he keeps himself turned away from me.

“Did you want to hear the rest?”

“It did seem very intriguing. I wanted to know how he'd react when he realized she wasn't there to hurt him.”

“Well, this is part of a series. We could start book two tomorrow if you'd like?”

“That'd be dope.”

“It's settled then. Cupcakes and cocks tomorrow. Sounds like a great day.”