He spied her in the crowd as he climbed the red carpet up the steps of the theatre.

Held back from the carpet by a string of authoritative red ropes, she stood quietly, her dark skin a stark contrast to the short white dress she wore. Her firm breasts got his attention first. Her eyes, bright with mischief, kept him staring. Just as she'd planned.

Lasco had a reputation with the media primarily for his sleight of hand, but he backed that up with a string of widely publicised associations with beautiful women. None of the relationships lasted long, and his short-term partners were seldom noticed by the media once they were out of his circle of influence. The women mostly knew how this worked, but went ahead anyway. Anything for fifteen minutes of fame.

The dark woman continued to watch as Lasco shook hands with random fans on the other side of the rope, a smile breaking out on her face as he got closer. She didn't flinch as he shook her hand, and barely moved when she found his palms pressed flat against either side of her slender waist.

"Are you coming to the show tonight?" he whispered, his mouth near her ear, his body pressed to hers, only the rope keeping them from a proper embrace.

"I wasn't planning on it," she lied.

"You must."

"Oh?"

"I won't be able to perform now, if you're not there."

"Save your stories, Mr Lasco, for those who believe them."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"I'm not sure I'm convinced."

The woman's face brightened more and more with the swapping of lies, and Lasco knew she was teasing. "The name is Zane."

"I know that, too." She grinned again, pleased and a little surprised at her genuine attraction to the man.

"You have me, as they say, at a disadvantage."

"Lucilla, Mr Lasco."

"Zane. Nice to meet you, Lucilla."

"I wonder, Zane, if you mean that?"

He took a step back. This wasn't the way things normally went. "Lucilla, how brave are you?"

"I like to think I can keep up."

"I'm tempted to dare you."

"Give in to it, Mr Lasco. You might not get another chance."

"Okay. Lift up your dress."

"Here?"

"No, when you get home. Of course here, woman."

"You... alright." Lucilla's hands took hold of the hem of her already short white dress, and lifted it a few inches. She couldn't fathom quite why she was going along with this, but she was sure she wanted to.

"Further, Lucilla."

She stared at him, trying to see what was going on, without success. "You want everyone to see?"

"I don't mind. I want to see." He just stood and waited, as thought the crowd weren't there.

"Do you always get what you want, Zane?"

"Mostly. Yes, or no?"

Lucilla didn't answer, but lifted the dress a little further, exposing more thigh, more grin, and a glitter in her eyes which showed she was enjoying this as much as he was.

"Not enough, Lucilla."

"For what?"

"Lift, and you'll see."

"You will see."

"Indeed."

"You are a more interesting person that I'd thought, you know. I figured you'd be more... showy."

"You are the one doing the showing. Your panties, mostly. Let the people see."

"Aren't you embarrassed?"

"They're your panties, Lucilla. I do hope white doesn't signify innocence."

"The chances are slim, and I don't embarrass."

With this final comment, he reached forward again, over the rope, and put his hand on Lucilla's right hip. She jumped this time, despite herself, pushed his hand away, and smoothed her dress down over her legs. The crowd roared while cameras clicked and flashed. Lasco smiled broadly before turning to whisper to someone behind him. Lucilla was perturbed. He should not have been able to do that, and she should not have wanted him to.

As the magician continued up the steps with the rest of the VIPs, a young woman dressed in an immaculate black business suit, complete with earphone and sunglasses, leaned and whispered to Lucilla. She straightened and handed over a small paper ticket, before continuing up the steps after Lasco.

Lucilla watched the celebrities for a few more minutes, and then turned to go. It wasn't until then that she noticed the key. The hotel room key, hooked impossibly over the waistband of her white panties. Lasco's key, obviously. This was worse than she thought. Or better, she realised, grinning.

---

Lucilla wasn't sure what to expect as she walked quietly down the hotel hallway. She'd come straight here after attending the show, and wasn't sure if Lasco would even have arrived yet.

As she neared the door whose number matched that on her key, she could hear the sounds of lovemaking. Squeaking and groaning assailed her senses, and the dim hallway no longer seemed so distant from the action.

She considered leaving, and decided that if nothing else, she would take the satisfaction of interrupting the activity, and walked boldly to the door, key in hand. It wasn't until she was reaching up to the keyhole that she realised the noises were coming from across the hallway, and in any case she had the distinct impression they were near their natural completion. She had a distinct advantage in this matter, but was convinced anyone with ears would have been able to tell.

Without her anger to back her up, she was suddenly less sure, and she gingerly pressed the key into the lock, and turned it quietly, listening to the click of the latch in the sudden quiet. It seemed she was right, and the couple had completed their exercise for the moment.

She pushed the door open with the flat of one hand, removing the key with the other, and looked into the room. A dim light was glowing above an armchair, and the chair wasn't empty.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Lucilla."

"I wasn't sure you'd be here, yet."

"Oh, I escape as soon as I can. A professional skill, you understand."

"I wonder. Should I do the same, Mr Lasco?"

"But you just got here, Lucilla. And I thought we'd settled on first names?"

"I thought..."

"I bet you did."

"... as I walked up, that you..."

"Had someone? Yes?"

"Yes."

"It was," he waved vaguely towards the door, "the people..."

"Across the hallway. Yes, I found out."

"I'm impressed."

"With what, Zane?" She shrugged. "My hearing?"

"Hardly. It would have been difficult to miss. No, that you thought it could be me. He has... well, staying power."

"Oh? You know him?"

"I hear him. Repeatedly."

"You have an advantage."

"I do? Lucilla, whatever can you mean?"

"I only heard the finale, it seems."

"Ah. Well. Lucilla, I'd offer you a drink, but..."

"But?"

"That might delay..."

"Oh, this should be good."

"...Moving into the bedroom."

"Mr Lasco, you suffer from rampant optimism."

"Oh, don't start that 'Mister' business again. Tell you what, how about you tell me why you are here?"

"Could be to swap lies."

"Or not."

"Or not. Has no one ever told you about small-talk?"

"Lucilla, we're getting older. May I be... blunt?"

"I'm fairly sure I couldn't stop you. Have at it."

"Thank you. I'm pretty sure you came here to fuck. That dress serves only one purpose. To show how lovely your skin is. You don't mind showing off your underwear in the national newspapers, and you'll be in them tomorrow for sure. I'm not suggesting anything but sex, but I'm not about to force you. Okay?"

"Zane?"

"Yes, Lucilla?"

"Shut up now. Where is the bedroom?"

He pointed, and then spoke. "Take it off, first."

"It?"

"You know. The dress. And then the rest. I need to know. Is that tan or heritage?"

Lucilla didn't have anything else to say. She turned towards the bedroom, crossed her arms and pulled the dress up and over her head, revealing white panties, dark skin, and nothing else. No tanlines, no bra. Nothing. In the bedroom door, she turned back to Lasco, and stood very still.

While he watched her, the white panties fell to the floor, revealing a dark thatch of hair, along with a hint of paler pink. It took a moment, and then he spoke.

"Lucilla, how did you do that?"

"Trade secret."

"You're a professional? A magician?"

"That's another one."

"I'm being set up."

"I'm the one who is naked."

"You're not going to explain?"

"I'm naked. Don't you have any better ideas?"

Kicking the panties across the floor, she grinned, turned, and walked into the bedroom, knowing he was staring at her ass.

Lasco was a little stunned. He didn't usually capture women who burned quite this brightly, and he wasn't used to being so helpless. He had to admit though that she was intensely attractive. He couldn't have walked away from this, despite his misgivings. Lasco stood quickly from the chair and walked to the bedroom doorway, his mind made up.

Lucilla was sitting on the end of the bed, leaning back, her arms holding her up from the covers. Her knees parted as he watched, and he knew resistance was not going to be a problem.

Without saying anything, he started to remove his clothing. Once he was down to his briefs, he looked across to see her grinning at him. "What's so funny?"

"The undies, stud."

"What about them?"

"Briefs are always funny."

"Says who?"

"Says me. No, leave them on. Let me do it."

"From there?"

"How on earth would I do that?"

"That's what I want to know."

"No comprende. Come closer."

"So you can laugh some more?"

"No, no. Seeing them is funny. Removing them is... sexy."

"Oh, well then."

"I thought you'd see. Come here."

Lucilla lifted the front of his black briefs, pulled them up and over the obvious bulge, and pulled them down his legs. She was about to take the solid, pale cock in her hands when Lasco pushed her back on the bed, encouraging her further up the covers before spreading her legs, and positioning himself between them.

There wasn't any more talk. Lucilla might have been assertive until now, but she was letting Lasco do this how he wanted, classic position, fit, enthusiastic bodies, and an endowment that left her in no doubt that he was capable of many of the stories that surrounded him.

His movements were gentle at first, his lips exploring as the rest of his body caressed her. Their movements suited each other, and they had discovered a rhythm that worked before he was even fully inside her. She pulled him closer, desperate to be filled, and he gladly accepted the challenge.

The two of them struggled enthusiastically, sweaty and focused, his hard body above hers, his cock surrounded, and they moved inevitably towards a conclusion.

In the end, she whispered to him. "Now, Zane. Now, please." She resisted the temptation to influence him, and he didn't answer, but his next thrust was the beginning of the end, and as he spread her one more time, she shivered beneath him, and orgasmed, pushing hard as she felt his release begin. The orchestrated rhythm was broken, and he collapsed on her, both of their bodies shuddering to a stop, neither in control for the moment.

They lay there for a few minutes, his pale weight on her dark body, and then he rolled to the side, and off her, relaxing beside her on the covers. It was hot and dim in the room, and he only said one word to her before they both fell asleep.

A whispered sighing request in her ear. "Stay."

---

It was a strange way to wake up.

Zane's hands were tied to the bed head, high and wide. He lay there, flat on his back, naked, with the sun shining on his lean pale body through the window. He was on top of the covers, and Lucilla was looking at him, her eyes brightly glittering, her dark mouth covering his hard cock, her tongue sliding almost frictionlessly up the lower side of it, her lips surrounding him wonderfully.

She lifted her head, still kneeling on the floor, breasts in his plain sight, dark, pretty and bare.

"Oh, so I have your attention now? You're not the easiest person to wake up, are you?" her mouth lowered to lick him again.

"Morning Lucilla. You definitely have my attention. You know, you are a constant source of surprise."

"You..." She took him into her mouth again, sucked him, hard, and released him with a pop. "... ain't seen, as they say, nothin' yet."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see, Zane. Just pay attention."

"I can hardly do anything else, and why would I want to?"

"We'll have to see, won't we?"

"Boredom seems unlikely."

"Do you like to be in charge, Zane?"

"In charge? Well, perhaps."

"Not your morning, then."

"What?"

"Never mind. Just lay back and enjoy yourself."

"Your wish, etcetera." He might have been excited, but he was relaxed as well. Unusually so.

"Good enough." Lucilla gave his attentive cock one last kiss, stood up at the end of the bed, and crawled up over his body until she was astride his hips. Her darkness was profoundly beautiful in the sunlight, especially as a contrast to him. "So listen, Zane, I need to tell you something."

"Oh?" Zane lay on the bed, as Lucilla positioned her body over his cock, and then lowered herself onto him. "Oh."

"Not that."

"Pity."

"Indeed. You see..." She pushed herself down, ignoring his grunt of surprise, and kept talking. "... I have... two things to say."

"Oh God, yes?"

"Yes. Firstly, I'm... I'm going to come before you. Very, very soon."

"Oh, I'm not so sure... about that."

"I am. Secondly... Oh, shit... Oooh... secondly, I have a message for you."

"A message? Oh... What?"

"Shush. You're distracting me." Her rhythm was speeding up now, nearly there.

"Yeah, but..."

"Quiet. Oh, God. I'm... Listen, here's... here's the thing. Your magic show."

"Yes?"

"Oh, I'm going to... oh, fuck... you need to be careful. You... Oh, you need to be careful not to go too much further."

"Further?"

"Yeah. You... your sleight of hand. You need to keep it that way. The witches. We need you to... mmphhh... keep it... Oooooooh.... away from...Oh, fuck!"

Her sweating body pumped once more.

She came, shuddering as her body shook with the pleasure.

Her legs clamped tight around him, and that was all he could stand.

She lifted again, and crashed down on him, heedless of his needs.

She screamed with pleasure and release; he thrust.

Her scream was cut off as she vanished.

His cock erupted, spraying come high in the now empty air.

He looked around wildly, trying to work it out, but his brain wouldn't focus.

His body thrust pointlessly as he pumped again.

Come fell on his chest and stomach.

As the pulses slowed, and the remains of his semen dribbled over the tip of his softening cock, a voice, without sense or reason, spoke inside his bewildered head.

"We'd like to keep this civilised, and this is the friendliest warning you're ever going to get, but you need to stay away from real..." she whispered in his bewildered mind, "...magic.