All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
A creeping, insidious feeling followed Samantha after their trip to The Belle Dame. She could sense she was lost. Her friends were lost. Her mother was lost. Her father was lost. The only person who seemed to have found himself was her twin brother. And Eddie was much worse for his period of self-discovery. He swaggered, made obnoxious declarations, and seemed to get away with whatever he liked. Several days passed, and Samantha found herself leaving the house before her family woke and staying out as late as she could, usually rolling in right before her school-night curfew of eight o'clock.
From time to time, when she was at the house, her mind would suddenly fog over. She would lose track of her homework, or messaging friends, and find her hand in her panties rubbing away at her clit. She had rarely masturbated before the painting arrived. Now it was a daily occurrence. Sometimes, Eddie would knock on the door and ask to be let in, but even during those strange spells, Samantha kept enough wits about her not to open her locked bedroom door. Making matters even worse, her clothes were all too small for her. Inexplicably, her body had waited until age eighteen to fill out.
The days passed in a similarly confusing fashion for Kathy. Dreams of hunting women through the forest haunted her nights. She would wake up with sopping wet panties and a strange tangy taste on her tongue. Curiosity got the better of her. One morning she put some of that wetness on her fingers and placed it in her mouth. That was how she tasted pussy for the first time. And yes, the taste was quite similar to what she'd experienced in her nightmares. She could scarcely admit it to herself, but the woman she prowled most often was her own mother. The first few times she had woken up retching. But it seemed that repetition had acclimatized her mind to the huntress within her dreams.
As odd as his days were, things weren't as strange for Noah. He spent hours falling down rabbit holes on the internet, but found nothing helpful. The unsolved, unfolding mystery of the paintings caused some anxiety, but he still felt the comforting pull of normalcy. The rush of the last week of school before winter break was familiar. Bickering with Hailey was a day-in and day-out affair. And his oldest sister, Paget, would be returning home soon with her fiancé. Noah's father seemed quite normal. And his mother was... distracted, but still herself.
After their visit to The Belle Dame, Ella barely gave the whole "mystery" a second thought. Sure, there were odd aspects to the paintings, but it wasn't a big deal. A minor prank at best. Her mother, Mara, mentioned several times at the dinner table that she was might be the only woman in Clover Falls who didn't have a painting from The Belle Dame. Ella's father, Antonio, told Mara that she was being ridiculous. "There are hundreds of women in town, and certainly nowhere near hundreds of paintings." That didn't stop Mara from pouting.
~~
"Oooohhhhhhhhhh... my... she owns... his heart." Jessica sat naked from the waist down on the bathroom counter, holding
First Love
with one hand while she fingered herself with the other. It wasn't pornography by any stretch, but it was racy. And more than that, it spoke to something inside her. She longed to be worshiped the way Volodya, the younger man, burned for Princess Zasekin, the older woman. Thoughts of her husband, Andrew, lay abandoned in her fantasies, collecting dust. Her fantasies focused on Thomas, whose monstrous, icy penis had parted Jessica's lips. She moved her fingers to her clit and rubbed out a trembling orgasm. "Ooooohhhhhh... my... my... ooohhhhhhhhhhhh."
When the wave of pleasure had passed, she closed her legs and the book. She had only had her first orgasm a little more than a week ago, but already the ecstasy had ebbed. Her satisfaction now paled in comparison to what it had been. When she'd first noticed the trend, she had thought it was the happy end to her sexual rollercoaster. Maybe her peak would be short-lived. Unfortunately, while the act itself diminished in intensity, her hunger for that missing feeling only increased. She soon found that myriad minor orgasms did not make up for fewer mind-shattering ones.
"Jessica?" Andrew knocked on the door. "You've been in there a while. Everything okay?"
"Give me some privacy!" Jessica spat out the words and regretted the venom in her voice almost instantly. But she said nothing else. Instead, she turned and washed her hands in the sink.
"Okay, well, I need the bathroom, too. I don't want to be late to work." Andrew sounded almost apologetic.
Jessica shook her head. "Sorry, dear. I'll be out in a minute."
Later, at breakfast, Jessica tried to settle her mind. She reminded herself, as she did most mornings, that once her men were off to school and work, and her daughter went back to her room, Jessica would have more time to touch herself. Maybe she would find the spark that she'd lost. If only the black dildo would show up again. She knew holding something thick and veiny like that might do the trick. Hailey and Noah were arguing on the other side of the kitchen, intruding into Jessica's thoughts. "Cool it, you two."
"But... Mom... Noah's hogging all the -" Hailey started.
"I said... effing...
cool it!
" Jessica shouted. She watched both her kid's eyes go wide. But rather than cool it herself, she let her feelings vent. "Gosh...
darn
it. I've had it up to here with your bickering." She held her hand up to her hairline. "Not... another... word." When Hailey opened her mouth, Jessica stood and stepped toward her daughter. With satisfaction, she saw Hailey's lips quickly shut. Jessica looked to Noah. His lips were also tightly shut. He had strong, full lips. She stared at her son's mouth. Would he let her kiss him? He might. She saw the way he stared at her sometimes.
Noah exchanged a look with Hailey. Their mother's gaze had been burning holes through his face for a while. Hailey shrugged and rolled her eyes, suggesting their mother had gone bonkers.
Eventually, Noah risked speaking. "Mom? Are you okay?"
"Why does everyone ask me that? I'm fine." Jessica refocused her vision and looked into Noah's worried eyes. "You know what? I'll drive you to school today. Get your things."
"I'm fine walking. I like -" Noah wasn't able to finish.
"I'm driving you." Jessica waved her hand dismissively and walked off to find her purse.
"What's gotten into Mom?" Hailey whispered. "She almost swore at us."
"I think it's the painting. I've been feeling -" Noah watched Hailey turn her back to him.
