Mirror Bound

by Kirsten Bij't Vuur

  She fondled my hair, women always find my curls irresistible, and then she came across my horns. Shocked, she looked at me, I suppose she'd heard of

  my difference, but feeling it was a different matter. I encouraged her to touch them: 'Go ahead, you can touch them. I like to have my horns touched, it turns me on,' I said.

  She touched them again, felt the metal, and wanted to see the caps. I lay down on the bed and laid my head in her lap, and she pushed my curls back and studied the caps: 'Silver, beautifully ornamented. Did Paul make these?'

  I nodded: 'I would have died without them, he helped me saw off my horns, but it went wrong and I nearly bled to death. Those caps stopped the bleeding.'

  She touched them, then the rest of the horns, scratching their bases gently, and now it was my turn to shiver as I laid at the mercy of her hands.

  She must have felt that, for she wanted to kiss again, and she touched my stumps with a fire within her rising. I knew she was untouched, and the link our minds seemed to have formed worried me a little, what if her passion was just my own, reflected in her?

  But she didn't seem as vulnerable anymore, she felt my insecurity and it turned her on. She unbuttoned my shirt and touched my chest with fearless hands. I felt the wonderment of touching someone with lust the first time, and it combined with my own enjoyment of her touch.

  I pulled the laces of her dress, and touched her breasts tenderly, the first time they had ever been touched by someone other than herself.

  We kissed again, touching each other's bodies, feelings mingling, it was heady, and I was about to lose myself in the feeling of oneness, when I remembered she had been struck with grief, and crying her heart out only minutes before now.

  I stopped, looked at her and said: 'Are you sure you want to do this? You know I cannot promise anyone my exclusive love, I must share it always. It is in no way helpful to you if you substitute one hopeless love for another.'

  She kissed me, and said: 'I really, really want this. I have been lost in love for way too long, but I need to come to terms with that before I love someone else. Now I just want to share love as your people do it, wherever, whenever and with whomever it pleases me.

  And the first time, I want it to be you, for something in you calls out to me, wants to become one with me.'

  Chapter 25

  And that was the end of our control over our passion. We quickly lost our clothes, and I showed her the pleasure that love could bring, I stroked her whole body, her breasts, her belly, her inner thighs, then I carefully spread her legs and licked her until she shuddered with pure bliss, and when I felt her need to have me in her, I very easily, very slowly entered her, until the painful bit was over and her lust was rising again.

  You have no idea how intense making love gets when you feel everything your partner feels, we were one, never wondering whether the other felt the same intense passion but knowing it. Then it got weird. I felt a flashing sensation through the rising lust, electrifying my brain, nearly painful.

  It wasn't bad enough to stop, my lust was up, she wouldn't know it wasn't part of the game, so I went ahead, the feeling in the background now, a climax coming.

  And linked to her, I knew exactly what she needed to reach that point too.

  Our mutual release hit me like a storm wave, spinning my mind like a wave spins a body it has caught, no escape possible. I was shaken over and over, faster and faster, until everything went black.

  I came to with a glowing blond girl stroking my hair, giving me little kisses on my face. A raging headache nearly blinded me, but even so I suddenly remembered what had happened, and I told her: 'That is not how it is supposed to be!'

  The headache was getting worse, and I felt very weak, I was dazedly trying to remember what had gone wrong. Through the pain I felt a sated laziness, happy and careless. What was happening to me? The girl now said: 'You don't look so well, I think I'll call my father.

  But first I want to thank you for your love, it was great, you must be the best lover ever. Julia said making love was just a lot of sweating and groaning.'

  Ilsa, that was the girl's name. I started to remember, we had made love, but at the climax, something had happened, I had passed out. The happiness, that was hers! I felt her feelings, had all night. And why was she so bright, hurting

  my head even more? My head started spinning again, and I closed my eyes.

  The strong smell of herbs woke me again, a bottle with the strong smell held under my nose by a handsome man with a worried expression. Behind him, the girl again, Ilsa, his daughter. The man, George, Sir Nomes, removed the bottle and held out a cup of tea.

  One strong arm lifted me up until I sat against the headboard, the other held the cup to my lips. The tea was cool enough to drink, and I swallowed a few mouthfuls, feeling an immediate effect: the headache receded and something missing in me was restored.

  The man had a glow as well, and I asked with difficulty: 'Why are you both glowing?' George looked at me affectionately, and said: 'You are an easy person to love, Lukas, you're very endearing. The glow you see is our magical talent that you see with your sight. You have the same glow to my sight.'

  That couldn't be, I didn't have any talent, and Ilsa hadn't glowed when I saw her before. Neither did George for that matter. I decided to let it rest a bit, I felt a bit embarrassed, I was on his daughter's bed, stark naked, having just made love to her, and now he was being so nice to me.

  George offered me more of the tea which I drank, then he said: 'Let me make you a little more comfortable, and if you can stay awake I'll tell you what has happened. I saw signs of it when I came in and found you comforting Ilsa in the dining room, but it was bound to happen soon anyway, though maybe a little less forcefully.'

  And as he again lifted me easily, Ilsa pulled the blanket from under me and covered me with it. That felt a lot better, I hadn't realized I was cold, and for some really weird reason I felt embarrassed with my nakedness and was relieved to be covered up.

  Now, Ilsa sat down next to me, she had gotten dressed again, and stroked my curls tenderly. It felt nice. George sat on my other side, and started his explanation: 'When I saw you together in the dining room I saw both of you light up in sight, a sign that your talent was on the verge of breaking through.

  Now Ilsa's must have been repressed by her intense grief that she held on to for so long, and when you released her from that it burst out. But nothing could break through her grief for years, so I guess your talent must lie in that direction.

  Her intense need may have reached out to you, did you feel drawn to her?' I

  thought of sharing her feelings and replied: 'I most certainly did. I felt everything she felt, still feel it. You are very happy as well, why? I made love to your daughter, don't you Victorians disapprove of that?' Now, George laughed, and he touched me for a second.

  The feelings that weren't mine disappeared, and I immediately realized they had been a constant drain on me. He must have seen the relief on my face for he said: 'Better eh? You'll need to learn shielding immediately, you seem to have a really strong empathy, feeling what others feel.

  So, Ilsa's intense need drew you, your emphatic talent started to awaken and you felt everything she felt. She felt your understanding and shared her grief with you, which lessened it enough for her to realize you were the perfect man to have her first sexual experience with, sweet, attractive, and in total mental rapport with her.

  Making love with you was a healing experience for her, but when the two of you had a climax, both your talents broke through, Ilsa's catalysed yours, spinning it out of control and causing you to lose consciousness.

  Your new talent healed her, but the cost to you was very high, it drained you totally. It will take days to replenish your power reserves, and until then, you'll feel really weak. It is essential that you're shielded, for it seems that sharing emotions with someone will cost you magic power, which you don't have, so your talent will use your life-force to power
it and drain you unconscious again.

  I can keep up a shield for you, if you care to stay with us until you feel better.

  Or I could take you home, informing Paul about your talent awakening, and he'll shield you until you are strong enough to learn to do it yourself.'

  I wanted to go home really badly, I knew you'd be worrying, but I also knew I needed to go, for Ilsa was apparently cured of her debilitating grief, but she seemed well on her way to an infatuation. And strangely enough, I had felt real love for her when she was in dire need of it, but now I wanted to go home and be with the two of you.

  I needed to be away from her, so she could explore her new talent with her family, and restore her bond to them, not bond to me and walk the same road as with Paul. So I asked George to please take me home, and he immediately ordered the carriage, helped me dress and carried me to the front of the house.

  Ilsa thanked me and kissed me, and I was carried into the carriage and we were off. In the carriage, George held on to me so I couldn't fall off the

  bench, and he told me: 'Dear Lukas, I am so intensely grateful to you for saving my daughter from her sickness of grief. Thank you so much. You have a reason for wanting to go home, don't you?'

  I replied: 'Ilsa will fall in love with me if she nurses me until I'm well again, and I don't love like that, my love is not exclusive, I love where I feel it. Paul and Melissa love me despite that, so my place is with them, and Ilsa needs to occupy herself with her new talent and making fun with friends.'

  George nodded as if he understood, and despite the shielding, I knew he was one of the few humans who loved like I did, though he preferred men and I women.

  Soon we were home, and I was almost childishly happy to see your face, Paul, and I loved it when you carried me into the house and into your bed yourself. And when you fed me tea and undressed me and tucked me in and held me, I was deliriously happy. Though I may have been delirious as well.

  When did you take over the shield, by the way?'

  Did I imagine it, or did Paul look at my goat-man with as much love as I did?

  He was no longer my goat-man then, but ours. Paul answered Lukas'

  question: 'The moment I picked you up, I saw George's shield on you and I replaced it with mine. You're mine, not his.'

  This last was said as a joke, but Paul did kiss him as he said it, giving it meaning again. But he was not finished yet: 'Lukas, there is something you need to consider: we can wait until your power is restored naturally, that can take as long as a week, during which you'll feel more or less like you feel now.

  Or I can restore your power for you, but that requires a tight bond, and that in turn might change the way you feel about me. It is a very intimate process, but you would feel better instantly and we could start on your own shielding immediately. Melissa can tell you more about it.'

  Lukas looked at Paul incredulously and asked: 'I can't believe you'd do that for me. Is there a risk I'd love you exclusively after doing that? That'd turn me into Ilsa, I wouldn't want that.'

  I told him: 'We did that yesterday, Lukas, and I still love you to bits, so I guess it's safe.' 'Then please let's do it, Paul,' was Lukas' answer.

  I wanted to hug both before they started, for I was sure I'd feel left out when they went in such a deep report, remembering the intense experience yesterday. Then they sat really close together, and I saw Paul's face blank out,

  as it often did when he worked magic.

  But not for long, for soon both men showed intense love, and I could see Lukas' posture straighten, he looked better immediately. They shared a very intense kiss, which made me feel really flushed, my two men kissing was very enticing to watch.

  Then Lukas' hand took hold of mine, and I felt a mixture of elation and extreme love, I suppose from him. Paul winked at me and said: 'I've taken the shield off for a moment, he cannot be drained with me supplying him, and I want to know how much energy this empathy thing really costs.' I felt his powerful mind too, and took his hand in my other hand.

  Who had ever thought it would come to this, Paul daring to be this intimate, not only with me, but with his erstwhile rival as well. The men kissed again, still holding on to my hands. Lukas was the one who broke off the kiss, and he fell back on to the bed with Paul on top of him. He pulled me into the embrace as well, and as Paul and me surrounded him, fondling him, our new talent said: 'I feel on top of the world, at one with both of you, a talent of my own, what more can a guy want from life?' And that is when Paul put the shield back, and we all had just our own feelings in our minds. But we still lay together in one bed, and we continued to enjoy that for some time yet.

  As ever, Paul did not waste any time, and after we had gotten up again and Lukas had dressed, he started on Lukas' first real magic lesson, shielding.

  Lukas was clearly feeling much better, and after an hour of instruction on a very passive subject he started to get fidgety.

  Content with his progress, Paul allowed him to quit the books and do something active. Lukas decided to have a good run first, wanting to take Sir Nomes up on his offer to come to his estate and enjoy a run there without, well, anything, if it pleased him.

  The day was lovely, warm and sunny but not too hot, ideal to go for a run and a swim afterwards, and he was off without even taking lunch. This left Paul and me to ourselves, and of course he insisted on spending some time practising magic. I must admit I did enjoy the lessons, he was a good teacher, though he did tend to set his standard pretty high. We did the fireball again, and this time I managed a third time without fainting or losing control, the third time using his magic power again. It was getting pretty easy to reach for his seemingly endless store of energy, and the intimacy of it was not as distracting anymore.

  He said: 'Tomorrow, I'd like to practice outside, what would you think of going to the Nomes' place? We can throw around fireballs to our heart's content, no-one will be in danger.' I thought it was a great idea, but I did think half an hour's walk was quite a stretch for a bit of practice, and I told him so.

  He clearly agreed with me and said: 'I don't want to keep horses, but I do think we would get around more easily with a device. You walk twenty minutes each day to and from work, farther if you have to go by the office.

  How would you like to ride a bicycle?'

  As I had never heard of such a thing, he didn't even try to explain, but practically pulled me with him to the backyard.

  The backyard was the only part of his house that was not perfectly kept. It was a small piece of garden, but didn't deserve the name because it was overgrown with weeds.

  Yes, I'm sorry to have to say it, but pristine Paul had a really messy, overgrown backyard. He just hadn't a clue what to do with plants, and I hadn't either. We had tried to convince Lukas to do something about it, but he was also from the level of society that had staff to pull weeds and grown things.

  So the backyard stayed just that, a yard behind the house. One could get there via a small stairs at the back of the workshop, or from the outside, through a narrow alley outside the house. We took the first route and soon reached a reasonably kept garden shed, nearly overgrown with brambles.

  Chapter 25

  Paul unlocked the shed with a key, and managed to open the door a few inches. He went inside, then came back with a machete, with which he removed some of the brambles, allowing the door to be opened more easily.

  The machete was replaced in the shed, messiness with tools of course was not acceptable, and he asked me to follow him in. I did, and inside was a very strange contraption. It had four wheels, connected by iron bars, with two narrow leather seats.

  He took hold of another iron bar, and it appeared to be made for just that purpose for it had handles. And then he pulled the thing in two! He moved one half, one wheel in front, one in the back, seat on top, handles in front, and rolled it out of the shed. He handed me the handles, and fetched the other contraption.

  Then he led me to the alley, unlocked the door an
d went straight to the road.

  As we walked, I studied the object in my hands. It was made of steel, but in true Paul fashion the connecting pipes were ornamented with copper.

  The handles had leather grips, making them more comfortable to hold, and the iron handle bar was not straight, but elegantly curved, making it easy to hold. Turning the bar turned the wheel, taking a turn.

  I could envision the use of the thing, but with only two wheels it would fall down, wouldn't it? By now we had reached the road, and Paul told me: 'Better watch me first. It is not difficult, but if you stand still you need to put a foot on the ground or you'll fall over.'

  He threw one of his legs over the seat, the saddle, he called it. Then he gripped both the handles, sat on the saddle, with one of his feet on a metal step, attached to a large cog. It had a chain running to the hindmost wheel, and when he pushed his foot on the step, he called it a pedal, the thing moved forward.

  As soon as he was in motion, he put his other foot on the mirroring pedal on the other side, and started to peddle. The thing moved forward, and at an impressive speed. He quickly peddled to the end of the street, turned the bike,

  and when he neared me he pushed the pedal backwards and the thing came to a halt.

  Now I saw what he meant by putting a foot on the ground, for as the thing stopped, it toppled of course, but he quickly put his foot on the street and stopped the downward movement. Proudly he announced: 'Melissa, may I present to you: a bicycle.'

  I was amazed, and wanted to try myself. So Paul helped me get my leg not over the saddle, 'that's how a man is supposed to do it' but in front of it. I sat on the saddle, quite comfortably I noticed, two hands on the handles, one foot on a pedal. I pushed it, the bicycle moved, and I tried to put my foot on the other pedal but missed.