Raider and the Lost Lamp
by Mythical Traveller

CHAPTER IV


Clara was a little apprehensive as the large wooden door before her opened. From her 
perspective, she had only left Roft Manor six weeks ago, and yet her family had not 
seen her in over two years. She knew that she would have some explaining to do. 
From behind the door emerged an elderly, well-groomed man in a tuxedo. He was 
quite tall, about six foot one and stood with excellent posture. The old man smiled in 
delight when he saw who was on the front stoop.

"Thank goodness!" the old butler exclaimed, shirking his usual air of decorum for a 
brief moment. "Forgive me, Lady Roft, but we had all been praying that you would 
return to us, safe and sound."

"Hello, Warwick," Clara smiled warmly at the old man. Jeff, who had been standing 
just behind Clara, smiled in greeting as well. The old man held the door wide open for 
Clara and her mysterious companion as they both entered, Jeff carrying the pack 
containing the magic lamp over his shoulder. Warwick closed the door behind Jeff 
and followed him into the large foyer, walking up to Clara.

"I shall inform the lady and his Lordship of your arrival, milady," the butler said. He 
tipped his head briefly in respect and then ascended a nearby staircase to the second 
level of the house, turning a corner at the top and disappearing from sight. Jeff 
strolled around aimlessly, admiring pretty much everything; the elegant wall panels, 
the expensive-looking artworks hanging from them, the stained glass window above 
the door being illuminated by the daylight...

"So this is where you live?" he asked.

"That's right." Clara replied.

"Not bad..." he said, in a mock-unimpressed tone. Clara sent him a genial smile and 
they both chuckled at the bad joke. For Clara, it felt good to be home again. Her wild 
heart was forever dragging her off to some ancient building or another. Occasionally, 
her adventures would even take her into the concrete jungle. There was nowhere she 
wouldnt go to find the most fantastic and well-hidden artefacts. Some she'd keep, 
some she'd lose, but any treasure she sought would always come into her possession 
for at least a time. It always felt good to come back to Roft Manor at the end of an 
adventure, though. She loved it here. It was the only place she'd ever really called 
home. Her father had given her the deed to the second-largest of his three mansions 
on her eighteenth birthday, but she rarely ever stayed there. Roft Manor was more 
than large enough to accommodate the small family of three, and Clara enjoyed being 
with her parents.

"Clara!" a woman who could only be Clara's mother exclaimed in astonishment, from 
atop the staircase via which Warwick had left. Jeff could easily see the family 
resemblance, although she looked too young to be Clara's mother. She was very 
elegantly dressed, and had the grace of the classic noblewoman. Her eyes, however, 
showed a level of happiness that a mother of any class would have when fears for the 
safety of their child were laid to rest.

The lady of the manor rushed down the stairs, and embraced her long-lost daughter.

"Mother!" Clara exclaimed, attempting to display a similar level of enthusiasm. It was 
hard to get excited about the encounter, when it seemed like only a couple of days ago 
she'd talked to her mother on the phone. They held each other for interminable 
seconds, tears streaming from the Lady Roft's eyes.

"I'm so glad you're home, darling... So glad you're home," she wept. It wasn't long 
before an older-looking man (mid-fifties, Jeff guessed) entered from one of the 
ground-level passages. His Lordship, Jeff correctly assumed. He was taller than the 
two women, perhaps five foot eleven/six foot even. He wore reading glasses. The rest 
of his attire, a cream-colored woollen jumper, and grey trousers seemed much less 
extravagant than his wife's (Although, on second glance, the trousers did look well 
tailored). Nonetheless, he too had the dignified air of an English noble.

"Clara!" he exclaimed, hurrying over to his daughter with open arms.

"Oh Father!" she replied, beginning to get sucked up in the emotion of the moment. 
The two women welcomed the lord into the embrace. They stood there together for 
ages, holding each other tightly, the lady Roft sobbing in happiness, and even the 
more hardened lord and Clara struggling to hold back their own tears. Jeff, who was 
beginning to feel like a fourth wheel, stood in the background, silently and 
uncomfortably.

"Where have you been all this time, Clara? We were so worried..." Lord Roft asked 
his daughter as the group hug broke apart.

"It's... It's a long story. Let's not discuss it now," she replied, still not quite sure how 
she was going to explain the incredible situation she was stuck in. Suddenly, she 
remembered that she had not come home alone. "Oh! Father, Mother, I'd like you to 
meet Jeff," she said, gesturing over towards him. "Jeff... helped me to get back home."

"Hi!" Jeff said, casually, with a smile, holding his hand up in greeting. Lord and lady 
Roft looked at each other.

"In that case, we're honoured, Jeff," Lord Roft said, offering his own hand, which Jeff 
shook with a firm grip. "Please, you must stay with us for a while. I insist!" the lord 
said with a friendly smile.

"In that case, I accept!" Jeff replied, returning his host's smile.

"Excellent!" Lord Roft said. "Warwick, prepare a room for our guest!"

"At once, milord!" said Warwick, who must've inconspicuously returned to the room 
some time after Lord Roft came in. Warwick turned and once again left the room via 
the staircase to the next floor.

"I'll have the servants bring the belongings from your vehicle to your room for you," 
Lord Roft said, almost as an afterthought.

"Oh, don't bother," Jeff said. "It's mostly just jerry-cans of water and diesel."

"You travel around with tanks of water and diesel?" Lord Roft asked, puzzled. Clara's 
expression became anxious - she wasn't ready to have to explain the situation now.

"Well... Yes..." Jeff sheepishly replied. "My mates told me that the U.K. was a very 
dry country in the grip of a fuel shortage. Apparently they were having me on..." he 
continued, ad-libbing as best he could. Lord and Lady Roft looked at each other in 
confusion. Clara rolled her eyes. "I don't get overseas much, Jeff said, as an 
attempted explanation.

"I... see..." Lord Roft responded, somewhat thrown by this new exhibit of eccentricity 
by the young man.

"Well, never mind all that, I'm sure we all have much to talk about," Lady Roft said, 
ending the awkward silence. "Come, let us go into the sitting room. I'll have the 
kitchen put on some Earl Grey." The lord and lady lead Clara and Jeff through the 
house to a grand sitting room with elaborate couches and armchairs, an antique coffee 
table, and a large hearth with a fire burning merrily away. It was adorned by 
magnificent paintings and other artworks, just like all the other rooms. Jeff could 
scarcely believe that he was sitting down to tea in a house like this. Although when he 
thought about it, it was probably one of the less remarkable things that had happened 
to him today.

The three Rofts and Jeff sat down at the coffee table and began to talk. A maid bought 
in a trolley with a tea set shortly thereafter and served them all. They talked for about 
twenty minutes. The lord and lady both hinted several times as the many unanswered 
questions they had about Clara's disappearance, but Clara repeatedly dodged the issue. 
Jeff, to his own relief, was never broached about the subject. Then Warwick entered 
the room.

"Master Jeff's room is ready, milord," he declared.

"Very good, Warwick," Lord Roft replied. "Well, it's starting to get on, and I'm sure 
you would both like to freshen up. Warwick will show you to your rooms," he said to 
Clara and Jeff. They all stood up. Clara kissed her father on the cheek, and then her 
mother. Jeff and Lord Roft shook hands once again. Clara and Jeff walked over to 
Warwick, who had been patiently waiting at the door. The three were about to leave 
when Lord Roft called Warwick over to him. The lord quietly said something to the 
butler, and Warwick nodded in compliance. Then he turned around and led Clara and 
Jeff away, Lady Roft very reluctantly letting Clara out of her sight again.

Warwick lead the pair to a huge main hall, with a wide staircase that lead up to a 
platform that had two further staircases branching off in separate directions.  Warwick 
led them up these stairs to the mansion's second floor. They walked down another 
wide hall, stopping a short way down at a large set of ornate double-doors. Warwick 
reached into the inside breast pocket of his jacket and removed a key.

"When we first began to suspect that you had gone missing, Lady Roft, His Lordship 
ordered that no one was to set foot in your room until your return. I've been carrying 
this key with me every day for the past two and a half years. Somehow, I always 
knew that I would be needing it again one day," Warwick said with a smile, as he 
unlocked the door.

"Thank you, Warwick," Clara smiled. She hugged the old butler and he returned the 
embrace. Warwick had been serving the Rofts since long before Clara was born, even 
before her father assumed the title of lord, following the death of his own father. The 
Rofts all considered him to be a member of the family, and a trusted friend. Indeed, he 
was one of the few people that Clara herself did completely trust. Warwick himself 
loved the Roft family, but never allowed himself to rise above his station (except on 
rare occasions). He tried to keep an appropriate distance and always treated them with 
the respect they deserved.

Clara entered her room, smiling at the two men as she closed the door behind her.
"Your room is just down the hall, sir," Warwick said as he led on.

"Sounds good," Jeff replied as he followed. They soon came to another set of double 
doors on the same side of the hall as Clara's room. They weren't as fancy as Clara's 
doors were, though. They were done in much the same style as the walls were, so they 
had a tendency to blend in, from a distance.

"Here we are, sir. His Lordship humbly requests you to join him for dinner this 
evening," Warwick said.

"Thanks, I'd be honoured," Jeff said, smiling.

"Very good, sir. I took the liberty of placing some formal suits in the wardrobe. I 
believe they're all in your size. I'm sure you'll find something there that will suit you."

"Oh... Well, thank you very much," Jeff replied somewhat flustered by the level of 
service he was receiving.

"Not at all, sir. If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask. We're all at your 
disposal. And... if I may be so bold, sir, thank you for restoring this family," Warwick 
said with a smile that conveyed heartfelt gratitude.

"Think nothing of it," Jeff smiled and began to walk into the room. He'd half opened 
the door when a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Warwick, could you tell me where to 
find the bathroom, mate?"

"The room has it's own ensuite, sir," Warwick replied, holding back a chuckle.

"Oh... Right. Thanks!" Jeff replied sheepishly, continuing into the room.

"Not at all, sir," Warwick repeated in an upbeat tone, as he turned to walk back down 
the hall.

Jeff closed the door behind him. The room was quite large, with an elegant victorian 
four-poster bed against one wall. There was no shortage of other furniture, either. 
There was a full-length mirror, two bedside tables and a large wooden wardrobe 
(among other things), all of which looked very expensive. Jeff noticed a door on the 
far side of the room. Must be the ensuite, Jeff thought to himself. It was only now 
that he was alone, that he checked the backpack. He'd kept it close at all times since 
they entered the manor. He opened it to make sure that the precious lamp hadn't 
slipped out at some point along the way. Then he closed it again and stowed the pack 
under the bed.

Jeff walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors. He looked over the suits that 
Warwick had put in there for him. Jeff knew very little about men's fashion, but the 
suits certainly looked expensive. He closed the wardrobe and walked over to the door 
he'd spied earlier.

"Jesus, Warwick, you weren't kidding! Ensuite... This place is bigger than my living 
room!" Jeff said to himself. The bathroom was indeed grand; the wall tiles were the 
most pristine white that Jeff had ever seen outside of a showroom. It had a nice large 
counter with the sink only taking up maybe a quarter of it's length, in the middle. It 
had both a bath and a shower (not a combo shower/bath) and, of course, a toilet. All 
the fixtures and taps looked golden, though they wouldn't have been actual gold. 
"They can't be THAT rich," Jeff thought. Jeff looked at the shower longingly. He 
could've really gone for a nice shower, but first, he turned his attention back to the 
counter, where he thought he'd spied a shaving kit.


------------

Clara stood behind Warwick as he knocked on the guest bedroom door. The door 
soon opened and Jeff stuck his head out.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Dinner will be ready shortly, sir. I thought you might like some assistance in finding 
the dining hall," Warwick explained.

"Oh! Righto! Well, I'm ready to go..." Jeff said as he stepped out into the hall, closing 
the door behind him. Clara looked him over with an approving smile. He looked quite 
dapper clean-shaven. The suit that Warwick had provided for him didn't hurt, either.

"Very well, then, sir," Warwick replied. He led Clara and Jeff down the hallway. As 
they walked, Jeff couldn't help but admire Clara's new look. She had changed into a 
body-length black cocktail gown, with an eye-catchingly low neckline and a cut on 
the right side of the skirt that ran all the way from the base to the top of her thigh. The 
entire garment held her figure nicely. Clara had also let her hair out, which now 
flowed freely behind her. She looked, in a word, incredible. Warwick led the pair 
down the stairs at the end of the hall, and through a couple of large rooms to the 
largest one yet, a massive dining hall with a long table that Jeff guessed could easily 
seat thirty people. Tonight, however, there were only four places set at the far end. 
Lord and Lady Roft, who were also dressed quite formally, were waiting there for 
their daughter and guest. Warwick escorted Clara and Jeff over to the lord and lady, 
before taking his leave to tend to matters in the kitchen. The Rofts and Jeff all 
exchanged pleasantries with one another, before taking their seats.

 Warwick served as chief waiter during the evening. The meal itself was an exquisite 
chicken dish, painstakingly prepared by the Roft's personal chef. It was nicely 
accompanied by a well-aged bottle of Pinot Grigio that Lady Roft had been saving for 
a special occasion. 

The dinner conversation during the night was quite pleasant, with the bulk of it 
pertaining to archaeological matters. Lord Roft, in his salad days, had been a famous 
archaeologist himself. Jeff had heard about some of the lord's exploits, although none 
of them were half as gung-ho as some of the stories he'd heard about Clara. Lord Roft 
had given up field work many years ago, due to health reasons, but still remained a 
valued consultant in the archaeological world. Up until Clara's disappearance, that is, 
when he began to focus all his energy on finding her.

 Jeff made a few jokes during the meal, a couple of which flopped, but he also went 
into some of his own theories on a few archaeological mysteries, all of which were 
quite interesting and at least somewhat founded. By the end of the night, Lord, Lady 
and even Clara Roft were all quite impressed with their houseguest. Clara's 
disappearance was not bought up once in the entire evening. All four members of the 
dinner party had made a silent agreement that the subject would not be discussed that 
night.

After everybody at the table had cleared their plates, the tea trolley made another 
appearance, this time manned by Warwick himself. The dinner conversation 
continued for at least another three-quarters of an hour after the meal was over, 
nobody was in any hurry to go anywhere. Even when they had all tired of sitting in 
one spot, the conversation didn't end, as the party began wandering through the 
mansion, eventually making their way to the games room, where they took turns 
playing pool with each other. Eventually it was decided amongst the group that it was 
time to turn in. Clara hugged and kissed her parents once again, and led Jeff through 
the maze of halls and chambers back to their bedrooms. They said goodnight to each 
other as Clara entered her room. Then Jeff walked the short distance down to his own 
bedroom. Upon entering, he removed his jacket and tie and dropped them on the bed.

"I think that Mother and Father were quite impressed by you tonight."

Jeff turned around, startled to see Clara standing just behind him, smiling. "I guess 
that walls aren't much of a deterrent when you're a genie, are they?" he said after the 
shock had passed.

"Not unless they have a central heating duct running through them. You can still walk 
through them, but they have a nasty habit of shrinking you clothes," Clara quipped.

Jeff chuckled.

"I apologise for the surprise entrance, but I wanted to talk to you in private and I 
didn't want to take the risk that one of the servants might see us entering the same 
room," Clara said.

"Oh... Okay..." Jeff said, not quite sure how else to respond.

"I wanted to thank you for bringing me back here. It's been very hard on Mother and 
Father the past couple of years. It's meant so much that I've been able to come back 
home and see them again," Clara said, hiding her emotion quite well.

"Oh, that's alright. To be perfectly honest, there wasn't much point in going back to 
Australia. I told my roommate I'd be gone for at least another five days, so the guy 
he's putting up in my room to cover the rent will still be there," Jeff joked.

"Well be that as it may, you still didn't have to bring me back here, and I wanted you 
to know that I really appreciate it," Clara said, with a grateful smile.

"Anytime," Jeff replied, returning her smile. After a few serene seconds, Jeff changed 
the subject, "Actually, I'm really glad you're here, because I wanted to talk to you 
myself."

"Oh?"

"I'm ready to make a wish," Jeff stated. Clara looked at him intently, as a tense silence 
grew between them. "I wish that I was rich. Really rich," Jeff proclaimed in decisive 
tone.

"Very well, master," Clara said, quietly, as her expression began to show a hint of 
disappointment. She wiggled her fingers in Jeff's direction, and an expensive-looking 
slim leather briefcase appeared on the bed beside him.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Your stock portfolio," Clara answered. "You now have a net worth of three thousand 
million pounds." Jeff whistled in astonishment as he opened up the case and began 
running his eye over the papers within. "Rich enough?" she asked.

"Hell, yeah!" Jeff chuckled, engrossed in the documents that outlined his newfound 
fortune.

"Glad I could be of service," Clara said, unhappily. The recent change in Clara's mood 
did not go unnoticed for long, and Jeff soon turned his attention back to her.

"Clara, what's wrong?" he asked, sympathetically.

"It's nothing of consequence, Jeff," she responded briskly, sidestepping the truth 
enforcement powers of the imprisonment spell. "Goodni..."

"C'mon Clara, don't make me pull rank..." Jeff interrupted, in a playful tone. Clara 
paused for a second, let out a frustrated huff, and then looked Jeff in the eye.

"It's just that... I didn't think that you were a materialistic guy..." Clara said with 
uneasy frankness.

"Neither do I," Jeff promptly replied, with a smirk. Clara looked at him in confusion. 
"As a matter of fact, money's never really been an interest of mine. But I can't deny 
that it's an integral part of life." Jeff sat on the side of the bed as he continued, "I'm 
just tired not being able to do stuff because I can't afford it. I mean I had to sell my 
car, and talk to three financial experts, who speak their own fucking goo-gah 
language, by the way, about getting my hands on some money that my parents 
invested for me when I was a kid to get over to Kazakhstan. And even then I couldn't 
afford anything better than a rickety old jeep and the bare essentials. And then I come 
here, and I see you guys living in a house so big it makes a shopping mall look like a 
broom closet, with butlers and Gogans, and the money to go on any expedition you 
want, without even having to think twice about it." Looking up at Clara, Jeff could see 
that she was a little hurt. 

"I don't mean any offence, he explained. But it's hard not to notice that you've got a 
good thing going here. And there's so much cool stuff out there that life has to offer, 
and I've got heaps of ideas that I've always wanted to explore. It'd just be nice if I 
could do it all without having to keep one eye on my bankbook all the time."

"I understand now, Jeff," Clara responded. "I do often take my background for 
granted. It's hard not to sometimes, as I've never known any different..."

"I can appreciate that," Jeff said with a kind smile. Clara looked him in the eye, and 
she began to smile too.

"Thank you for explaining it all to me, Jeff," Clara said, regaining her cheerfulness.

"Not at all, milady," Jeff said, still smiling, and finishing with an imitation of 
Warwick's head bowing. "I guess you'll be heading back to your room now?" he asked 
as he walked over to the wardrobe, undoing the cuffs of his sleeves.

"Actually, Jeff, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not..."

"Oh?" Jeff turned around to look at Clara with a very interested expression.

"I mean..." Clara quickly responded, a little embarrassed by her gaffe. "I mean I'd like 
to return to the lamp. I'd like to finish reading Zhiasa's journal."

"Oh... Well, okay. Knock yourself..." Jeff quickly stopped himself, realising that 
telling Clara to 'knock herself out' would likely result in her involuntarily banging her 
head against the wall until she lapsed into a coma. "...Feel free," Jeff said, amending 
his previous sentence.

"Thank you, Jeff. Promise you won't let me sleep in?" she jested.

"I promise," Jeff nodded with a warm smile. "Goodnight, Lady Roft."

"Goodnight, master," Clara smiled, before exploding into a cloud of pitch-black 
smoke. The smoke quickly coalesced into a single narrow stream that began to snake 
it's way around the room. After a few seconds it dove under the bed, and was rapidly 
sucked into the pack carrying the lamp. The cloud/Clara gone, Jeff turned back to the 
wardrobe and resumed undressing, while happily whistling I'm in the money.


------------

Despite the fact that the mattress was incredibly comfortable, Jeff tossed and turned 
for almost two hours before drifting off to sleep that night. At first his mind was just 
racing with excitement, as he imagined the possibilities before him with more money 
than he knew what to do with, and two more wishes to go. But as drowsiness began to 
envelop him, his mind wandered to other thoughts - thoughts about Clara. 

At first his mind's eye began ogling the image of her in that seductive evening dress. 
The way it clung to her body so perfectly, leaving no curve of her ideal hourglass 
figure to the imagination. The way it displayed her cleavage so appealingly, and how 
he'd glanced it a couple of times in it's full glory when they were in the games room, 
as she leaned over the pool table in front of him. He thought of that long cut that ran 
up the side of the dress, that swished over the smooth skin of her right leg as she 
walked, hiding nothing, but never displaying her leg all at once. Despite how highly 
the cut climbed, not once did Jeff see even a hint of her panties. They must have held 
her hips quite high, or else, Jeff thought, she was naked under that dress.

Then he thought back to that exploring outfit she had worn earlier in the day. He 
recalled how her (aptly named) shorts displayed her beautiful muscular thighs, almost 
in their entirety, and how tightly they hugged her incredibly firm-looking ass. He 
spent countless minutes admiring the mental picture of Clara sitting in that jeep, her 
lovely brown hair flailing full and freely in the wind, the bright desert sun 
illuminating all her splendid features, including the bare skin on the tops of her 
breasts. The smooth exposed skin extended only briefly, before being covered by 
textured grey cotton, which nonetheless curved around to outline the two attractive 
bulges quite nicely.

Going back further, Jeff pictured Clara in that exotic harem costume. He 
retrospectively marvelled at the adventurous amount of her midriff it left exposed, and 
recalled the provocative sight of her curvaceous waist, smooth, flat stomach and bared 
navel. He thought about how that silky pink top had made her firm breasts seem just a 
little perkier than the garments she later wore. And he pondered the mysteriously 
seductive effect that those thin veils flowing from her hair and back had on her 
appearance.

Of course it wasn't long before he remembered the erotic way she looked when they 
first met. With one of those perfect breasts exposed in it's entirety. Even with it's 
partner concealed, it looked stunning as it sat natural and free, with an average-sized 
areola that was a lovely pink, neither too pale nor too dark, surrounding lovely round 
nipple. Jeff had not forgotten the stain on her pants, either, which he had chosen to 
believe from the juices of her own arousal. How she had gotten in that state, Jeff 
could only imagine, but altogether, it was an incredibly arousing sight. Had he not 
been so freaked out by her extraordinary entrance, he would've almost certainly had 
an intense hard-on within seconds of first seeing her.

Clara had the kind of body that stuck in a mans mind and knowing that it belonged to 
such a witty and brilliant archaeological prodigy made her all the more sexy, as far as 
Jeff was concerned. But Clara had a well-known reputation for being a lone wolf and 
although she had warmed to him since he bought her back to England, Jeff wondered 
how likely she was to ever be intimate with him. He let his mind run wild with 
imaginings of how amazing such an experience would be. Even after he drifted off to 
sleep, exhausted from the long day, the highly arousing images continued to haunt 
him.

The dream began the instant he fell asleep. He opened his eyes to see that he was still 
laying on the large victorian bed, except now he was laying on top of the covers, for 
some reason, fully dressed in the suit he'd been wearing earlier. Apart from the bed, 
the room - if you could call it that, was nothing like the one that he'd fallen asleep in. 
Instead of soft carpet, the floor was now made of large sandstone blocks, and the size 
of the 'room' had at least tripled. On all sides, the 'room' was bordered by a series of 
stone archways that were unremarkable, save for their height. They were supported on 
plain stone columns that were spaced about fifteen feet apart from each other, each 
one having a wooden torch secured to it that was burning brightly. Beyond the 
archways was nothing. No floor, no walls, no sky, starry or otherwise, only pitch 
blackness. 

Apart from the bed, the only other thing of interest was in the center of the room, 
several feet in front of the bed. It was a structure comprising of two identical life-
sized statues, made of stone. They were very masterfully sculptured likenesses of two 
beautiful, naked women. They were kneeling, facing each other. Their private regions 
were obscured from view by their thighs, but judging from their realistic nipples, Jeff 
assumed they were anatomically correct. Together, with their upreaching hands, they 
supported a tray of fine silver, and in the center of the tray sat a shiny gold lamp.

The lamp was surrounded by a narrow cloud of smoke that seemed to emanate from 
the lamp's spout. The smoke seemed to ebb and flow from the lamp in a rhythmical 
cycle, and it was only now that Jeff became aware of the noise. It was a deep windy 
sound that seemed to come from all around. Had he not known better, Jeff would've 
sworn that what he could hear was the breathing of huge beast, deep in slumber. Jeff 
began to realise that the sound was occurring in time with the movements of the 
smoke from the lamp, and he began to suspect that he might not be alone.

"H...Hello?" he called out, apprehensively. Both the breathing noise and the 
movement of the smoke ceased. A few ominously silent seconds passed before the 
cloud of smoke turned bright pink. More smoke poured out of the lamp and the cloud 
began to rapidly grow. As it did, a playful feminine giggle echoed from all around. As 
the last of the smoke left the lamp, the cloud began to weave across the 'room', edging 
closer and closer to Jeff. All of a sudden the front of the cloud coalesced to form the 
top half of a beautiful young woman.

She had long brown hair that flowed all around behind her head, unaffected by 
gravity, as if she was underwater. Although Jeff could tell that she was very beautiful, 
he strangely couldn't tell what her face looked like, even though it wasn't obscured or 
blurred. She had quite a voluptuous chest, which was covered by a pink, sleeveless 
top. Her cleavage was well exposed, thanks to the plunging neckline and her stiffened 
nipples were making themselves very apparent from behind the silky fabric. The short 
top left her midriff bare. She had no hips, or anything below. Where the lower half of 
her body should have been, the cloud of pink smoke remained. With an excited grin, 
she flew across the room until she was laying, in mid-air, right over Jeff. She looked 
down at him with a friendly smile.

Half attracted to, half wary of this bizarre creature, Jeff returned her gaze. Her eyes 
were the brownest brown... like someone else he knew, but couldn't remember. He 
noticed that her irises eddied and rippled, like the surface of a pond. As he began to 
lose himself in these beautiful, surreal eyes, he suddenly felt warm lips pressing 
against his own. The young woman's physical lips remained well away from him, but 
her mischievous grin told Jeff that she was somehow responsible. When the kiss 
broke off, the young woman did a small victory roll in the air over the mattress, while 
another feminine laugh of delight echoed all around.

Jeff watched the unusual being warily, as she came to a stop, once again hovering 
over him, this time in an upright position. As he began to sit up, he once again felt 
invisible lips kissing him. This time, they were accompanied by an invisible tongue, 
that forced it's way between Jeff's lips and began teasing his own tongue. Jeff was 
really getting freaked out now. His eyes started darting from left to right, looking for 
some sort of exit. But then he felt warm hands moving in from behind him to caress 
his shoulders. Turning his head slightly, Jeff could see the fabric of his suit bowing 
under the pressure of the skilled fingers, but nothing else - the hands were also 
invisible.

As the hands began to massage his neck and shoulders, Jeff could feel the nervous 
tension quickly abandon him. He layed back down on the mattress, which didn't seem 
to deter the invisible hands from their work, and looked up at the mysterious female, 
as she continued to kiss him via her magics. Her warm expression silently told him to 
relax and enjoy himself. 

The kiss broke off once again, and the soothing hands left his body. The creature 
moved one of her visible hands in a graceful gesture and Jeff's clothes began to leave 
his body, unbuttoning and unzipping themselves where needed and even unravelling 
at the seams. The loose sheets of material peeled away from his body and were pulled 
to an unseen point on the mattress beneath him, like they were being sucked down 
some cosmic drain. Soon Jeff was completely naked, with no trace of his clothes to be 
found. The creature ran a quick eye over Jeff's body. He was only just starting to get 
hard, but the creature already looked impressed. A contented purr echoed through the 
air.

Closing her eyes, the creature began to caress her bare stomach with one hand, while 
caressing her opposite shoulder and upper breast with the other. Jeff had only a 
second to enjoy this spectacle, before the invisible lips again pushed themselves 
against his own. Then he felt invisible fingers running themselves through his chest 
hairs in random, gentle caresses. The kiss became merely the first in what was to be a 
continuous series of short, sharp kisses, interrupted every now and then by a tender 
prolonged kiss with tongue.

To Jeff's surprise, a second set of invisible lips began kissing their way down his 
sternum, and a second set of invisible hands began to move up and down his thighs. 
His cock, now quite hard, was beginning to rise. Jeff noticed that the creature's 
caresses to her own body were now becoming quite intense, and judging by the smile 
on her face, they were also quite enjoyable. The second set of invisible lips reached 
his navel, and for a brief while left him alone, then Jeff felt a tongue tickling the 
bottom of his belly button. With so many erotic sensations occurring to him at once, 
Jeff's cock rose quite quickly. The feeling of two fingers from a fifth invisible hand 
gliding up the sides of his rod had it quickly spasming to attention. Jeff let out a 
muffled grunt as the invisible tongue writhed against his own in a passionate kiss.

The lovely creature opened her eyes, shooting Jeff a sly glance as she turned her back 
to him. Jeff watched as she somehow opened her top from the front. She let the loose 
garment fall, revealing her beautiful back. Turning around once again, she gave Jeff 
the same mischievous look, while tossing the pink top away with one arm and 
teasingly covering her chest with the other. While adequately hiding her nipples, her 
arm could not hope to conceal the amazing size of the creature's breasts. She smiled 
down at Jeff as she could see the eagerness building within him. She did not keep him 
in suspense for long, soon removing her arm to let her breasts settle into natural 
freedom with a little jiggle. Jeff moaned in delight as he beheld her in her full naked 
glory. It was a sight that became even more arousing as the creature began to slowly 
massage her breasts and tweak her nipples. 

Jeff watched the creature longingly; he wanted so badly to touch that perfect body. He 
hadn't long been enjoying her erotic display when his attention was consumed by the 
sensation of warm fingers wrapping around the shaft of his cock. The invisible hand 
began to move up and down his manhood, very slowly. Jeff threw his head back into 
the pillow, moaning deeply through yet another kiss.  Fingers from a sixth invisible 
hand crept up from between his legs to begin fondling his balls. His rod was now hard 
as iron. The tongue from the second invisible mouth pulled out of his navel, and for a 
moment Jeff thought that it had finished with him.

His theory was quickly dashed when he felt the amazing sensation of warm, moist lips 
sliding over the head of his cock. Jeff shuddered in shock and delight, moaning 
loudly. His primal mating call was answered by an equally aroused feminine purr that 
echoed from all around. The invisible mouth slid up and down the head of Jeff's cock 
very, very slowly, while the invisible hands continued to work the shaft and tease his 
balls. The creature's ministrations were so subtle, it seemed quite apparent that she 
was in no hurry for this encounter to end. Nonetheless, Jeff had serious doubts about 
how long he could last under this treatment. The creature looked down at Jeff, 
affectionately, pulling the invisible lips from his cock and giving him some respite. It 
was short lived, as Jeff soon felt the sensation of the invisible tongue fluttering on the 
very tip of his rod.

"Oh God!" Jeff cried out, focusing every bit of his energy on holding his load in. He 
soon realised that the original set of invisible lips had stopped kissing him. In fact, 
within a few seconds, all of the invisible tormentors had left him. Jeff looked up at the 
creature, as if to ask her what the deal was. A playful feminine laugh echoed through 
the room as the beautiful young maiden swooped down to lay on top of Jeff, facing 
upwards. Jeff didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around the sexy being, caressing her 
stomach with one hand while reaching around to fondle a breast with the other, as he 
padded tender kisses up and down the nape of her neck. Feminine moans of arousal 
began to echo throughout the room, quiet at first, but growing ever louder.

The creature lowered the swirling cloud of pink smoke (where the bottom half of her 
body should have been) so that it completely engulfed Jeff's penis. For a few amazing 
seconds, he was inside of her. The sensation was incredible. His cock felt like it was 
in the middle of dozens of gentle air currents, all travelling in different directions and 
all carrying some kind of fine powder that brushed against his cock and tickled it. It 
was a wonderful, exciting sensation, but the cooling effect of the air currents also 
helped him to prolong his orgasm.

When it seemed that the creature could moan no louder, she pull away from Jeff, 
flying off to a point in the air a few feet above and away from him. Jeff sat up, trying 
to reach over to the supernatural beauty, but he was quickly pushed back down by the 
invisible hands. One set resumed caressing his chest, while another resumed caressing 
his thighs. The third grabbed his own hands tightly, pinning them down on the 
mattress in a spread-eagle position. Jeff moaned as the creature's magic bought a hot, 
slick, invisible pussy sliding onto his cock. As her magical snatch began to move up 
and down Jeff's shaft, the creature began to squeeze her breasts with one of her visible 
hands, while moving the other deep inside the cloud beneath her waist. Jeff looked on, 
intently. 

Although her hand was obscured from view he could tell that it was conducting some 
kind of continuous, repetitive movement and as the hand worked, the smoke in the 
living cloud seemed to swirl a little faster. It was not long before the invisible lips 
began kissing Jeff over and over, once again. As the invisible pussy rocked on Jeff 
with increasing frequency, two sets of moaning began to build in the room, the 
masculine moans came from Jeff, the echoing feminine ones came from everywhere 
and nowhere. Jeff was so close now, it took every last drop of his self-control to 
contain his load, and he could feel his grip slipping...

The loud feminine moans echoing through the room began to slowly change. What 
began as moans of arousal became cries of desperation. Jeff looked at the beautiful 
creature. Her lower hand seemed to be moving as fast as it could and the cloud of 
smoke at her base was now swirling and broiling furiously. She looked over at him 
with a pleading expression. What little of Jeff's mind wasn't consumed by desire was 
becoming quite worried about her. But compared to the pleasure he was receiving 
from the invisible pussy, such thoughts barely even registered. As the unseen vagina 
moved on his rod in a perfect rhythm, Jeff felt the last of his self-control slip away.

With a shout of utter ecstasy, Jeff's cock fired his seed into the air. To Jeff's 
astonishment, the spurt flew three feet into the air, and was immediately followed by 
another equally as powerful. When the jet of semen reached the peak of it's climb, it 
exploded, like a firework, into a basketball-sized sphere of off-white smoke. The 
smoke remained inert for a split second, before stretching into a long trail that sped 
towards the cloud at the bottom of the creature, like a heat-seeking missile locked on a 
target. This bizarre series of events occurred for at least eight similar jets of seed fired 
off by Jeff's over-stimulated cock. After the eighth ejaculation the spurts began to 
wane in height and volume, but before all was said and done, Jeff had launched at 
least a dozen jets of exploding semen into the air.

By the time he'd fired off his fourth load, the first stream of white smoke had entered 
the cloud below the female being. She opened her mouth wide, a scream of delight 
echoed throughout the room, and once again, the invisible hands, lips and pussy all 
abandoned Jeff. As each successive stream of smoke flew into her lower region, it 
knocked her back, seeming to throw her into a new orgasm before the last had even 
finished. An exhausted Jeff looked on as her prolonged moans continued long after 
the last smokey stream had entered her. He watched as the lines of white smoke 
swirling around amid the pink smoke of her lower body gradually thinned as they 
dissipated within her, became one with her.

She continued to float in the air, her human torso hanging horizontal and lifeless, as 
the feminine moans quietened and stopped. A few seconds passed, the only sound 
being that of Jeff's heavy breathing. Then the female creature roused, pulling herself 
upright as a deeply satisfied purr echoed through the room. As she flung her head 
back with a smile, thin strips of pink silk began to spiral around her upper body. Soon 
they had merged into a top that was identical to the one she'd been wearing earlier. 
She began to float over to the lamp in the center of the room, giving Jeff an amorous 
smile and a playful wave.

"W...wait..." Jeff pleaded, weakly, reaching towards her as much as his drained 
strength would allow. But the creature payed him no attention. Her upper body 
dissolved into a cloud of smoke that blended with her lower half, and the single, large 
smokey body dove into the spout of the lamp and disappeared. Then everything faded 
away as Jeff descended into a level of sleep too deep to sustain dreams.
