CHAPTER#21

The bathroom was full of water for several minutes before it finally receded. Beth expected the room to be soaked, but it was completely dry. There was no sign of Oliver.

"Thank you." She gave Naia a hug and let out a tremendous sigh. She hadn't told Mike what was going on because he had his own issues to deal with, but had gone straight to the nymph once he departed. Convinced that Oliver may just be a mental breakdown waiting to happen, Naia had suggested using the mirror in the bathroom to lure him out.

"He's a nasty one for sure." Naia sat in the tub and patted the edge. "Wanna tell me about your ex?"

Beth laughed and sat inside the tub instead. She was low enough that she could no longer see the mirror, so hoped that meant Oliver couldn't see her either. "The night before I came here I got pushed into a mirror dimension where a demon tried to trap me there."

"That much I know."

"Well, I glossed over some details."

"Interesting." Naia had pulled her knees up under her chin and was leaning forward. "Tell me more."

Beth took a deep breath and let it out. She felt comfortable with Naia, like talking with a best friend or a sister. She wasn't great with other women. She dressed sexy for herself, but had been accused of doing it for attention. And none of her girl friends could ever know about her secret lust for monster p**n, nor her strange stash of dildos. She constantly felt like a book that had been misfiled in the library with a nice cover.

"When I was stuck there, I might have... fucked him."

"Oh!" Naia's eyes flashed. "Tell me everything!"

Naia's excitement soon became her own. Beth told her about the bet she had made, about how hot his body felt against hers. The encounter with the demon had been scary, but she had been intensely attracted to him, wanted to dominate him and make him come. At Naia's prodding, she revealed more, soon describing her encounter with Asterion and her lifelong fetish for the creatures from her stories. At no point did it feel like it was awkward, and Naia actively listened the whole way.

Once she finished her tale, she looked at Naia. "So what do you think is going on with Oliver?"

"That's a great question. He's obviously found a way to link with your mind. He's also a powerful demon. I bet we could talk to Ratu about it. Or maybe Sofia knows something - she's been in the Library trying to dig up info on the Rat King, she could look into that too."

"Not Ratu." Not yet, anyway. The thought of falling through the reflecting pool gave her the shivers. What if Oliver really did get a hold of her this time?

Naia started to ask why not, but realization dawned in her eyes. "We could send one of the fairies with a note or something."

"We should do that." Beth looked over her shoulder. She half expected to see Oliver tucked in the corner of the ceiling through the mirror, but he was obviously lying low for now.

"There's something else we could do." A mischievous grin crossed Naia's lips. "I could examine your soul."

"My soul?"

"Yes. Magic powerful enough to track you here is likely tethered to your soul. Depending on how, I might even be able to remove it."

"That would be great!" Beth scooted in the middle of the tub. "What do you need me to do?"

Naia chuckled. "My brand of magic relies on a lot less clothing, if you know what I mean."

"Oh." The realization hit her. Of course.

"I can sense some discomfort at the idea." Naia moved closer, her fingertips tracing circles on Beth's knee. "But I wonder how much of that is you and how much of that is society telling you it's wrong."

"I...uh..." Beth had never really thought about it that way. She was very much into dick, but there was something about the soft curves of the nymph that she also found appealing.

"I wouldn't even have brought it up if I didn't sense something else. Curiosity maybe? Ooh, and regret." Naia was closer now, crawling on her hands and knees. Beth was sitting cross legged, and now one of the nymph's hands was between those legs, palm planted firmly on the tub surface below. "My lips aren't the first, are they?"

"No." Beth's voice was little more than a whisper.

"I can feel it, you know? That desire inside of you, that unanswered question. What would it be like..." Naia's free hand was on Beth's upper thigh, squeezing gently. "...to be with a woman who knows how your body works? Something different than a giant dick, the soft touch of a woman who wants you to moan in her mouth while she fingers you."

"Oh god." She hadn't noticed them at first, the magical bubbles that now floated around them. One popped by her nose, sending a rush of blood straight into her groin. "Are you using magic to seduce me?"

"Not this time." Naia winked. "I'm just amplifying what is already there." She slid her hand along Beth's jaw and up behind her ear, stroking her neck softly.

The ensuing flashback was intense. Beth was back in college again, drunk at a party. The girl across from her was Irina, a goth exchange student from another country. It had been harmless flirting at first, a ploy to get boys to bring them drinks, but the other people at the party had vanished from the periphery of her vision, her sole focus on those dark lips in front of her. There had been tender touches and a few kisses. They had begun to explore, but she had backed down at the last second.

"Not this time," Irina said, her dark eyes turning blue. The memory popped like one of Naia's bubbles and she was back in the bathroom.

"I'm wearing too much." Beth tried to unbutton her pants but Naia stopped her.