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“I mean, I had never done it before but how hard can it be, right? Open mouth, insert penis. So I bent over, like I said, but when I tried to unzip his zipper, I got my hair caught in it,” I went on.

“Which hurt—a lot . So I tried to zip it back up—you know—to get my hair loose? But unfortunately, I zipped too fast and the zipper teeth kind of grabbed the, uh, skin on his, um, his sac, if you know what I mean.”

“Ouch!” Rath winced.

“So up until then, he’d been saying things like, ‘yeah, bitch—suck it!’ But once his ball skin got caught, he started this high-pitched screaming and he honestly sounded like a girl,” my mouth went on, talking relentlessly.

“So then my neighbor in the apartment next to mine called the cops because he thought someone was being attacked. So they came and banged on the door…”

Oh God, why was I telling him all this? Why couldn’t I stop?

“The police came to your door?” Rath was looking kind of horrified now—for which I didn’t blame him. But still I kept talking.

“Yes, and my date was still screaming in this high-pitched voice, so they thought someone was being tortured inside,” I told him.

“So they broke down the door and found us like that with my head in his lap and both of us still caught in his zipper. So they called the paramedics and of course I couldn’t say anything to explain because I can never talk to people I don’t know—except you,” I added.

“Right.” Rath nodded and I bet he was wondering if I would ever stop talking. But the story wasn’t done yet and my mouth wasn’t finished talking. So I went right on.

“Right—so the paramedics showed up. They cut my hair, which got me loose, but my date was still stuck in his own zipper. So they loaded him into an ambulance and, long story short, I never saw him again. I don’t know if they had to removed his balls, or what.

” I shrugged unhappily. “It was just an unmitigated disaster from start to finish.”

“Wow. That’s, uh, some story,” Rath remarked. “Sarah, are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

I thought he looked worried.

Sebastian mewed at me, also looking worried. (Don’t say a cat can’t look worried—mine can .)

“I’m fine,” I said brightly, though inside I was still wondering why I had told him the embarrassing story. But maybe we could move past it somehow. When I thought that, I still felt sort of optimistic, which was probably the “Gladdens the Heart” part of the tincture.

“You don’t quite seem like yourself,” Rath objected. “I mean, not that I know you that well but?—”

“Oh, no—I’m okay,” I protested. “I mean, other than my terrible fear that I’ll be a virgin the rest of my life. And I really don’t want to be. Can you help me with that, do you think?”

Before the big Orc could answer Sebastian hissed at me and then at Rath, arching his back again.

“Yeah, I get it,” Rath said to him. “Something is definitely off here.”

He was standing now, putting some distance between us. I had the feeling I was driving him away but I didn’t want him to leave.

“Wait—don’t go!” I protested, reaching for him.

I hopped off the couch—or tried to. Suddenly I was dizzy with the world spinning around me. I stumbled and nearly fell.

Rath caught me and swung me up into his arms. He frowned down at me, his thick black eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Are you okay? Have you been drinking or something?”

“Didn’t drink anything but my Grandma’s tincture!” I protested. “The purple stuff, you know?”

“It’s a tincture? Like a potion?” he demanded. “Where did you get the recipe for it?”

“From the same place I got her apple pie recipe—her Grimoire,” I said.

“Her Grimoire?” Rath looked upset. “You brewed a magic potion and drank it without testing it first? Why the hell would you do that?”

“The book said it would ‘Loosen the Tongue and Gladden the Heart,’” I explained. “I thought it would help me not be so shy around you. So I could let you kiss me.”

“Well, it certainly worked,” he said grimly. He settled me more firmly in his arms and started for the stairs.

“Hey wait—where are you taking me?” I protested as he carried up upstairs. “I thought you were going to, you know, go down on me? And then maybe help me lose my virginity?”

“Not tonight,” Rath said firmly. “Not while you’re under the influence of a magic spell. I’m not going to take advantage of you, baby.”

“But what if I want you to take advantage?” I pouted.

“No—it wouldn’t be right.” He frowned as he carried me through the upstairs hallway. I liked the way he was holding me so easily—like I weighed next to nothing.

“You’re really strong, aren’t you?” I purred, reaching up to cup his cheek.

“Stronger than I thought I was,” he muttered and then he kicked open the door of my room.

“What are you doing?” I demanded as he put me down on my bed. “Do you want to go to bed together?”

“No, we’d better fucking not.” Rath shook his head. Leaning down, he pulled the sheet and comforter up over me, covering my exposed breasts.

I wanted to protest, but I was still feeling dizzy—the room was spinning all around me and all I could do was lay there, looking up at him. But I still wanted him.

“Should we try to have sex?” I asked him. “You’re really big, but I don’t mind trying—as long as you don’t yell at me if you can’t get it in. That’s what happened the first time I tried. It was kind of a disaster.”

“Not gonna yell at you, baby.” He cupped my cheek in one big hand. “But I’m not gonna have sex with you tonight either. You’re not yourself—you need to sleep off that potion you took.”

“I am too myself!” I said crossly. I tried to sit up but everything started spinning and I had to lie back down.

“I’m me. Me, myself and I,” I said. I was vaguely aware that I wasn’t really making much sense anymore, but still my mouth wouldn’t stop talking.

“I’m me and I want to have sex with you ,” I assured him.

“Yeah, I’d like to have sex with you too, but not now. Some other time.” He stroked my cheek again. “Why don’t you try to sleep it off now?”

“But I’m not…not sleepy!” I protested, and then yawned hugely as sudden fatigue overtook me.

At that point Sebastian jumped up on the bed with me. He came over to rub his cheek against mine and then looked at me anxiously.

“Hey, thanks for the warning,” Rath said and I realized he was talking to my cat. “You know Sarah better than I do, but even I can tell this definitely isn’t normal for her.”

Sebastian looked up at him and gave a short, “Mew.”

“Can you keep an eye on her?” Rath asked. “She really needs to sleep that potion off.”

Sebastian mewed again—a definite “yes”—and Rath nodded.

“Okay, thanks. Get some sleep,” he said to me. “We can talk later, okay?”

“Mmmkay.” Suddenly my eyelids were so heavy I could barely keep them open. The overwhelming lust was gone, leaving a deep fatigue in its place. Sleep—I needed to sleep.

“All right, good,” I heard Rath rumble. But by that time, my eyes were closing and I was already drifting off to sleep. I heard him say something else, but I didn’t catch what it was. I was already gone…drowning in dreams.