Caitlyn leaned over the edge of the couch, her eyes twinkling with amusement at the way Philip's eyes suddenly tried very hard to be looking anywhere but into the valley of her cleavage. "Want to see my new necklace?"
Philip stiffened slightly. He also tensed slightly. He tried to hold eye contact with her, determined not to give her any hint that he noticed her breasts (her extremely large, well-shaped, pendulous, hanging almost in his face breasts...) but his plan was stymied by the fact that she was looking down at his crotch. Awkwardly, he shifted in an attempt to make his half-erection a little less obvious. "Um, no. No thanks. I'm sure it's nice."
Caitlyn curled her lip in a mock pout. "You haven't even seen me put it on yet, Phil," she replied in a hurt tone. "I think you'll find it's very...attention-getting."
That's what I'm worried about,
Philip thought to himself as he squirmed on the couch. Out loud, though, he simply said, "Um...so what did you say you and Jane were doing tonight?" He wanted to get up and flee to his bedroom, but until his cousin got back from her boyfriend's house, he was stuck playing host. Social pressure held him in his seat as firmly as if he was tied there.
Caitlyn shrugged. "I dunno. We hadn't really made plans." Caitlyn giggled, her laughter making her chest heave in disconcertingly interesting ways. "I just figured I'd find something fun to do until she got back, like last time."
Philip tensed up even more. "I, um...I'm sure she'll be back any minute." It was a bluff and they both knew it. Philip might be living in Jane's apartment while he was in America, but she spent every second or third night over at her boyfriend's house ever since the two of them started dating. She might not walk through that door until tomorrow, maybe not even until the next day, and Philip couldn't help feeling like Caitlyn had known that when she came over.
It wasn't that he wasn't...or that he wouldn't...that is, it wasn't like he was
saving
himself or anything...it was just that, well, she shouldn't...that is, not that she shouldn't, because women could nowadays and there was nothing wrong with wanting to...but she shouldn't the way she did because it wasn't that he wouldn't but he always felt like if he didn't want to he wouldn't be able to tell her she couldn't because she wanted to so much that she wouldn't let him. Or something like that. Caitlyn always threw Philip off-balance, that was the problem. She was nothing like the women back home in Yorkshire. She made him feel like he was powerless to stop her from doing whatever she wanted, even before...
She reached into her pocket and took out the necklace. It looked like a chunk of polished malachite, with swirls of bright and vivid green standing out against the dark green of its surface. It hung from a simple leather cord, and Caitlyn tied it around her neck without even standing up. "What do you think?" she asked.
Philip tried to look anywhere but at the necklace. "It's lovely. Please put it away now," he said urgently.
"Why?" Caitlyn asked in tones of mock confusion. Then she put a finger to her lips in a show of sudden understanding. "Oh!" she said. "Surely you don't think I might hypnotize you again!"
Philip swallowed. It took a surprising amount of effort. "I...um, the thought had, um." He licked his lips nervously, his mouth too dry to wet them effectively. "Briefly occurred to me, yes, but...I mean, I'm sure that this time, now that I'm...on my guard, it wouldn't..." He caught a glimpse of the pendant swaying gently between Caitlyn's hanging breasts, and for a long moment he forgot what he was talking about. "Um, affect me," he said at last.