ONE
They could sense her approaching before they ever saw her: Hope Escher. The Woman From the Edge of Town. The Cock-Breaker. The Glitch-Bitch. The Broken Lady.
The forty-five year old woman didn't appear particularly noteworthy. Five and a half feet tall, a slim build, a small bust, and a rather plain face. Light blond hair cut off at the shoulder, grey eyes, and fair skin. She could pretty herself up quite nicely if she tried, but she was average enough that under normal circumstances, no one would notice her in a crowd. Although the rejuvenating nature of Sex Magic gave her the body of a twenty year old, you could tell she was really middle-aged. She carried herself like an older woman, kindly stoic, almost matronly, dressed in simpler, more practical clothing. Slacks, a white blouse, flat brown shoes, and a light green cardigan sweater. She even drove an old, clunky scooter, not a common vehicle to be sure, but just the sort of utilitarian thing for a quick run into town for errands.
Hope was just an average woman going about her day, but when she entered town, everyone took notice, whether they wanted to or not. She tried to make the trip quick. Just zip into town, stop by the grocery store, post office, gas station, and back home. Her old scooter puttered worryingly as she steered onto the main street. She was going to have to get it fixed, and she wasn't sure she had the money for that. Her budget was tight this month.
Pulling up into the parking lot of the grocery store, she tried to ignore the glares. Living in a tiny town meant she only had a couple places to go for supplies, and that meant repeatedly interacting with the same women who just wanted to punch her teeth in.
Along with the glares, she tried to ignore the near-screaming psychic hum of every penis within a hundred yards straining at maximum hardness from her presence. Men were bending over at the waist, clutching their thighs or their crotches. Some tried to act tough, refusing to cup themselves, or perhaps unable to, and stood there with teeth grit, sweating bullets. When she got far enough away, even the tough guys would collapse against the nearest supporting wall, vehicle, or significant other, gasping with relief at the sudden loss of tension.
The women around her might have once thought it a funny little trick. But that had been when the Sex Magic was new and interesting. Now, the trick was an invasive, unwelcome pain. The men couldn't take it. The women resented that Hope's aura of sexual tension overwhelmed their own spells and protections to make their men suffer. And, more to the unspoken point, none of the women in town liked the idea that their boyfriends' and husbands' and subs' dicks yearned for her ten times harder than for them.
Most of these women would have to consciously project the sort of erection-inducing aura Hope broadcasted automatically. There were a few others that, like Hope, broadcast the signals that awoke men's dicks without trying. But they weren't nearly as strong, and they could reign the signals in with little effort, just a conscious thought to mute the effect.
Not Hope. Her broadcast was overclocked so high up, it was only the healing side effects of the magic that kept men's dicks from bursting the moment her aura touched them. Even straining to her utmost to reel her magic in, to tamp it down as hard as she could, the best she could do was make it hurt a bit less for the men. Some women tried to block Hope's signals from reaching their men, but it was a considerable effort on their part; most couldn't block it completely.
Well, there was nothing she could do. She had to come into town if she wanted food to eat and to make money through her deliveries to the post office. If nothing else, she had managed a routine. She only needed to go into town a couple times a week, and as long as no one gave her trouble, she could minimize the suffering she inflicted on others.
Okay. Ten to fifteen minutes at the grocers. Twenty if the lines didn't clear a path for her. She knew exactly what she needed. Breathe calmly. Push the aura down. Walk quickly. Ignore the glares. Don't hesitate or linger if anyone runs or faints, just keep going about your business. She grabbed a cart and started shopping. People let her pass; they'd learned the best thing to do was to just let her get her shopping done. Giving her trouble just meant she'd take longer to leave.
As she went, she sensed a couple young men break, unable to stand her aura any more, and dash off to the bathroom for the illusion of privacy. They were already grabbing themselves and masturbating furiously before their pants hit the floor. They didn't care that Sex Magic let every adult woman around immediately know they were masturbating and what they were thinking of while they did it. Stimulating the men's penises did wonders to soothe the ache of their erections. Still, even if they came, it would do nothing to lessen the tension.
The woman the young men had been standing next to, their sister if Hope remembered right, shook her head disapprovingly at the boys' behavior. Normally there sudden loss of control and furious self-pleasure would earn them a scolding and someone would make them stop. With Hope around, the other women were lenient enough to let them do what they had to, but they were still going to get an earful from their sister afterwards.
The store was staffed almost entirely by men, with a female store manager. Since the arrival of Sex Magic some years ago, it was an unfortunate necessity that men were regulated to grunt work. Hope felt some pity. The men at the registers could barely do their jobs and the two at the deli retreated for a sudden "smoke break" all the way past the back lot. They'd no doubt get chewed out for leaving their post. Hope tried not to think about the poor guys' inevitable fate.
Eggs. Milk. Cheese. Ham. Apples. Bread. Bananas. Peas. She was forgetting something. She checked the small pocket of her cardigan sweater, and muttered a curse as she realized her list was gone, probably having fallen out when she drove into town. If she'd forgotten, she'd have to make do. Everyone who could see her was giving her long glances and expectant stares, expressions urging her to hurry the hell up. Livvy, the store manager, was pursing her lips in that way she did when she was about to go off on someone. Hope actually spared her a quick glower. She wasn't sure if Livvy had always been a total cunt or she just let the power of Sex Magic go to her head. She had no qualms threatening to manhandle Hope out of the store if she took too long.
Hope hurried to the first check out, the customers vacating it for her. She passed through the alcohol aisle on the way. She was tempted to grab one of the large bottles of wine as she went through, but reminded herself she didn't have the money.
"H-h-h-hi," gasped the young man at the register. He clutched the edges of the counter with a white-knuckle grip. Hope gave him a warm smile and held up a hand, indicating he didn't need to talk. She felt awful for the boy. Barely eighteen, first job, had only just started a couple weeks ago. He was the newbie, so he got to be the one to deal with the Glitch-Bitch.
