Pisces

"I'll now start the bidding," a sedate voice said from the side of the stage.

"Bidding?" Victoria asked between breaths.

"One hundred thousand!" a woman's voice yelled out.

Others followed, slowly increasing the amounts. Victoria's thrill began to fade as she realized what was happening.

"Wait," she said. "Just, wait. You can't do this."

"Two hundred and twenty-five thousand!" a man yelled.

As her eyes adjusted to the lights, she began to make out faces. Nearly a hundred people were seated before her, spread out within the enormous chamber facing the stage.

Beautiful Question Mark sat off to the side. Watching her expressionlessly.

"You- you! I know you!" she said, staring at him. They lifted their chin but made no other response.

A woman was standing, bending over next to another patron. Maddie. Victoria's mouth opened but she snapped it shut. And then her eyes grew wide.

Elias sat in front of her with Maddie whispering in his ear.

"Elias! Please! You have to help me!" Victoria called out.

"Three hundred and thirty thousand," an old man said from the back. He laughed while stroking his oiled mustache.

"-to me first!" Elias' angry voice carried through the rustling of the crowd.

Maddie glanced at the stage but continued to whisper until Elias wavered her away. When she didn't move, he turned slowly to glare at her. She stood straight, wobbling briefly like a flicked spring before taking a step back. When she left, she walked quickly without a backwards glance.

"Three hun-"

"Five hundred and fifty-thousand dollars," Elias said loudly while staring at Victoria. "Final."

The room grew quiet. A few people coughed while another exited the room.

"Sold," the man said from the side of the stage.

Elias stood. He grabbed his long coat, tweaked his tie and walked to the back of the room.

"Wait! Elias, wait!" Victoria called out.

A large man approached from her left. He touched her back, between her shoulder blades but she shrugged away from him.

"Get away from- I want to see Elias!" Victoria yelled, folding her wings around her body once more.

"And we'll take you to him," the man told her slowly, as if she were a slow-witted child. "Just follow me."

She stared at him for a few seconds before doing as he said. He turned to guide her down another set of stairs. Instead of walking down, she jumped. Her wings opened and she landed softly on her toes. The man waited for her but continued when she followed once more. He opened a door for her and she brushed past him to stand in the hallway.

"A peacock! What'd I say, Mads! A peacock!" he yelled while jabbing the woman next to her. They both sat back against the opposite wall.

"Female peacocks are brown, idiot," Maddie told him while massaging her arm. "Look it up."

"Oh, I will, I will," he told her. "And then you'll treat me to dinner after work."

Don't do it, Victoria told herself. Don't. Don't say-

"How's your arm?" Victoria asked Maddie. She clenched her jaw while stare at the other woman and Gavin whistled.

"Alright, I think we've had our fun," Gavin said. "Come on, Mads. No rest for the wicked."

"Bitch," Maddie spat.

The patiently waiting guide continued when Victoria walked away. He opened broad double doors and she squawked when sunlight assaulted her once more. Her wing immediately raised to block the light again while she blinked rapidly to adjust.

When she lowered her wing, Elias stood before her, leaning back against the door of a limousine. Alone.

"Oh god! Oh, thank god!" Victoria cried. She ran to him, as quickly as her changed feet would allow but he met her away from the car with a hand against her chest when her wings opened to wrap around him in a hug.

"Be careful, please," he told her.

"Oh, s- sorry, sorry," she said, stepping back. Her thumbs hooked together beneath her throat but the thumbs rubbed back and forth anxiously, scutes scratching loudly. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened or who these people are or or or or-"

"I owe you an explanation," he told her, turning to walk back to the car to open the door.

"Can we start with why you have a limousine?" she asked as he slipped inside. "I had no idea! I thought you were just an extremely handsome gardener with his own store!"

She hesitated before the car. As carefully as she could, she reached her wings forward to grip the roof. She raised her foot, bending the back toe to grip onto the floor, wincing and relaxing when metal crunched. With even more caution, she pulled herself inside. The car rocked until she slid into a seat opposite Elias.

"Is it rented?" she asked him. Her wings lay against her lap with her talons nestled just beneath her breasts.

"No, it's one of mine," he told her.

"One of yours? Wow," she said, glancing around. "I've never been inside of one. I almost did at prom, but my date-"

Victoria rubbed the bridge of her nose with the side of her talon, hiding her face and chest with a brilliant wing. She turned back around to face Elias with a shy smile. Her talons nudged her breasts, lifting them before letting them drop down. The slick black claws slid over the skin until they rubbed against her nipples.

Forced to sit on the edge of the seat due to her tail, she leaned back while spreading her legs. Elias watched the display impassively and she studied him in return, trying to work out what to say while her body responded automatically. She'd never been so close to him for such a long period of time. She gasped when the very tip of her talon pressed into her nipple and only then did she realize what she was doing. Her face burned while she settled her wings back against her body. And still, her knees spread slightly further apart.

"Did they mistreat you?" Elias asked suddenly.

"Oh! No," she said. "The one woman, Maddie, she acted rough but the other, Gavin, was nice."

He nodded as if he already knew the answer. She suspected that was the case, however.

"I hurt Maddie, though," Victoria confessed. "When they were letting me out of their van."

"I know," he told her. "She'll be lucky if that's the only thing she suffers from this whole fiasco."

His voice soothed her and, despite everything that was happening, he appeared unflappable. His presence and attitude bolstered her. And left her flustered. She'd had fantasies like this. Alone with him. Her breasts lifted when she sat straight and her thumbs slid down her body to her thighs, talons pressing into them to spread her legs further apart.

Wild fantasies where his passion overwhelmed his cool demeanor. While she'd never imagined a limousine, the back of the office was always a favorite. Calling her into the back for help but giving into his lust to fondle her and strip her until she was riding him on a convenient, comfortable couch. Hands against his shoulders while her ass slapped down against his thighs and her tits bounced in his face.

Well, they won't be bouncing so much anymore, she thought to herself. Her right wing raised while her talon dragged against her body until her thumb toyed with the nipple once again. The sensation of hardened scutes against soft skin and her erect, throbbing nipple made her gasp.

And once more she realized what she was doing. She coughed, turning her head while crossing her wings over her body.

"It's difficult, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, shortly.

They rode in silence the rest of the way with Victoria exerting every ounce of control she could muster. She had to keep herself in constant check as she could feel herself slipping whenever her fantasies distracted her. After a few minutes, she slid forward further until her pussy wasn't touching the seat. She prayed to any god who would listen that she wouldn't make a mess in his fancy car.

When the car pulled to the curb, Elias opened the door to step onto the sidewalk. He held the door open while waiting for her to exit and she did, slowly unfolding herself as carefully as she could to stand next to him.

Wind ruffled her feathers, pushing against her even as she kept them folded around her.

"They can't see me, can they?" she asked while staring at the early evening crowds.

"No, not with me here," Elias told her. He closed the door before sweeping past her to unlock the door to the plant nursery. Once more he held it open for her and she smiled at him while walking inside.

WIth his coat over his arm, he walked with her to the back. She subconsciously cringed, expecting the resistance she'd felt earlier but none assaulted her as he unlocked his office and, again, held the door for her.

"Thank you," she told him this time. Her wing brushed against his body as she made her way into the spacious office. "Hah! There is a couch back here!"

"Pardon?" Elias asked when he entered. He closed the door behind both of them.

"Oh, nothing, I just- I haven't really been in here before," she said sheepishly.

"I'm aware, yes, by design," he told her. "Come, sit. Would you like a drink?"

"You know, yes, I think I could use one at this point," she told him while sitting on the edge of the couch.

"What would you like?" he asked her.

"Whatever's convenient," she replied.

Glasses clinked. She watched him take a rectangular glass bottle, filled with dark brown liquid, from a cupboard. The cork squeaked before popping quietly and he poured, a small measure for both of them. Once finished, he brought it over to her and sat, facing her from the edge of the couch to her left. Nearly a foot of space separated their knees. Victoria forced herself to relax when fantasies tumbled through her imagination.

"So," he said, swirling his drink.

"So," she agreed, sticking her tongue out between her lips while reaching her wing out. Her glass had a wide handle that she slipped her claw into. The scarlet feathers mixed in with her hair trembled when she concentrated, gripping carefully and lifting. "It's like in those science fiction movies with the scientists manipulating robot arms."

The glass touched her lips. Elias watched her closely, staring at her small, pert nose and the freckles covering them. At her green eyes when she squinted in concentration.

"Haaaaaaaah, dang!" she hissed after taking a sip. Her arm moved slowly. She followed its path as she gently set the glass down on the table in front of the couch. "That's strong stuff."

"For my best clients," he told her.

"Well, I really appreciate it. I've never really had-"

"You're avoiding the subject," he told her.

"No, I'm just enjoying the moment," she answered. The ease at which she answered surprised her on one level. She tried to use the alcohol as an excuse but she simply felt at ease. "I'm worried that it'll pass and you'll go away and I'll be alone. I want to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts."

He tilted his head slightly to watch her while she pushed the glass around with her talon.

"Do you not want it to last?" he asked her.

"Do I have a choice?" she replied, looking up at him. Their eyes met and her distracted smile faded.

"Before that, you haven't asked a single question about your condition or the situation surrounding it," he told her. She thought she heard a note of exasperation but she doubted herself. It was Elias, after all.

"Gavin told me to use my head," she said. Her left talon raised, bumping against the coffee table until she pressed it into the edge. Her four toes gripped it lightly. The anklet slid against the scutes covering her leg, rotating until the symbols faced down. She reached her wing out to spin it and hold it in place.

"This thing changed me," she told him, distracting herself with her little game of manual dexterity while she spoke. "Magic, like Gavin said. And I guess it's bad that I have it. When they broke into my apartment, they didn't ask me why I bought it but how I was able to buy it. As if it should've been impossible. The store clerk hesitated to sell it to me. She asked some weird questions that made me think I didn't belong in there. And I sure the hell don't remember ever seeing the store before. Nobody noticed me on the streets when they kidnapped me, even though I was naked so if they can hide that, they can hide an entire store. You're involved. Oh, and I guess all the strange people that come back here are probably wizards, too. I saw one in the audience. So, there's magic and you keep it away from us. And I got magic radiation poisoning from being close to you all the time."

"'Magic radiation poisoning'," Elias repeated with the hint of a smile. "You are entirely too perceptive to be working at a front desk."

"Well," she told him while raising her wings. "I don't think that'll be an issue anymore."

"As far as our current theories go, it's impossible to expose others to magical energies simply by being around someone with those abilities. My office is warded heavily. I checked before I went to the auction. There's no leakage."

"Hah, leakage," Victoria snorted before blushing and sliding her ass forward on the couch.

"I think you have the seed of an ability," he said, nodding to acknowledge her joke. "The fraction of a fraction of a fraction. And like a muscle, it was exercised in my presence until it was enough to allow you to see through cheap glamours. The rest you know."

"Okay, so, great," she said. "How do we undo this?"

"We don't," he told her. The hints of humor were gone from his face. "The clasp is gone. It's bound to you now. It is you now. It is permanent. Or they would've undone it and wiped your memory."

"Well, shit," Victoria cursed. Her heart dropped but she forced a smile and reached to grip her cup to take another sip.

"They're made to bind familiars to mages," he continued. "A pact is made and the intended changes, existing as part of our reality as well as a realm beyond. That connection is passed onto the mage to increase their abilities significantly. They call it a symbiotic relationship but I call it parasitic. It changes the familiar on fundamental levels. Mental and physical changes. It creates a power dynamic heavily skewed in the mage's favor."

"But, if they want it?" she asked.

Like I want you? she thought to herself. Her body trembled as she glanced his way. Thinking of her lips against his. His hands against her. The discussion was only making it worse as she imagined herself in that position. Bound to him. His. She forced herself to look away to continue pushing the glass, unable to even look at him. Her knee brushed his and she nearly moaned from the contact.

"They don't always," Elias sighed. He slumped ever so slightly against the couch before taking a sip from his drink. "I've known many who force the binding without permission. They... enjoy it more that way. The submission it creates. Seeing their familiar constantly struggling without being able to resist true commands."

"Well, that is shitty," Victoria acknowledged. "But there are crappy people everywhere and, really, is it that terrible if both are willing?"

"No, I-" he paused, frowning as he looked over at her. "What are you doing, Victoria?"

Oh shit, he said my naaaaame, she thought, shivering when she heard it.

A clear bead of cum welled from between her pussy lips, gathering another drop before sliding along her slick lips until it latched onto a stray crimson feather. Her knees opened until their legs touched one more.

"I'm not blind to what you're trying to say," he told her. "I just don't-"

"You aren't?" she interrupted, looking back up at him once more. "Then were you blind to how completely attracted I was to you? Am. How completely and utterly smitten I am with you?"

"I've- I've wondered," he admitted.

"Well, wonder no more!" she said. "I tried to ask you out today and flubbed it. I've been trying to ask you out for months. I have- god! I have fantasies about you all the time! And now, now that I've finally found the confidence to actually tell you about it, I turn into a fucking biiiiiiird. I mean, fuck my life, right?"

"The confidence comes from that," he told her while gesturing towards the anklet. "As well as the exhibitionism and arousal and-"

"I don't care where it came from!" she said, slamming her talons into the coffee table. Wood splintered but she ignored it until she tried to pull them out and the table cracked, breaking in half to spill her drink.

Victoria stared at the table while her mind turned over. Her chest heaved.

"I don't care, Elias," she said, more quietly. "I'll take whatever I can get. It's not fair that it has to be blamed on a piece of jewelry. I don't give a damn. I just want you."

"Victoria," Elias said quietly.

She stared at him, eyes flicking over his face to etch it into her mind. To look for any hint of affection he might hold for her. She found it, but not in his eyes.

Victoria reached her right wing down to grip the bottom of the couch. Her other wing spread open to the arm next to her. She lifted her leg and spread her toes apart when they curled together. She kept his gaze while reaching with her foot until she pressed against the bulge in his trousers.

Slowly, as carefully as she could - more carefully and delicate than anything she'd ever tried before, she closed her toes around him. She stared into his eyes the entire time. Challenging him. Waiting for him to ask her to stop.

The anklet slid against the black scutes over her shin when she pulled her foot back.

Stroking him.

She could feel the firmness of his shaft along the bottom of her toes. His slacks were warm as she pressed her toes into them and her lips parted when she felt the silky touch against her skin between the plating.

"You don't have to," he said and she smirked at how breathless he sounded.

"Don't have to what, Elias?" she asked innocently while raising her other foot. "Don't have to let myself indulge in one of the many, many fantasies I've had about a man I've grown to respect, admire, and lust after?"

"This is-" he started to say.

"I swear to god," she growled, tensing her foot slightly until the claws dented his trousers. "I swear to god if you blame this stupid golden bracelet, I'll- I'll- Don't. Just don't. Give this to me. If you want it, too, then let me have this."

Her right foot bent. She reached out, concentrating with her tongue out as she hooked the eye of his slider with the tip of the claw. His pants unzipped. She grinned triumphantly while unhooking herself to try his button next.

"I can do it," he told her.

"I want to try," she replied, pressing the claw against the back of the button. She pulled, trying to force it through the loop but it popped off. "Aw, dammit."

"Here, let me help," he said.

She raised her foot again, stopping briefly when her muscles trembled in her thigh. When they relaxed, she pushed forward to slip the claws beneath the band of his underwear. Her brow furrowed. She squinted once more. Focusing. The middle toe lifted while the other two stayed in place and she breathed out.

Her foot dragged down. She moaned when she saw the head of his cock. Her two toes pressed together, squeezing Elias' dick carefully while the middle toe curled to rub against him. And still she pulled, dragging his underwear down while simultaneously caressing his cock until it was completely freed.

With her legs spread, Victoria bent her wing, flexing it until the side of her talon pressed into her clit. She moaned while rubbing herself but she focused the majority of her attention on Elias. The motion of her hand frustrated. Without her wrists, she couldn't bend her wing enough to do any more than rub her thumb against her clit and lips.