Tom was already having second thoughts.

It was early. The bedroom was bathed in soft blue light as he lay curled up in bed, staring out the window as he mulled over the events of last night. He’d already lost three inches, and yet he’d agreed to let Lily take six more.

But then… had he really agreed to it? Lily was right that the entire past week had been miserable. If he ever looked at his wife, heard the sound of his wife’s voice, thought about his wife for too long, he’d instantly get hard. Jerking off would help… for about 20 minutes. Sometimes less. And even that minor remedy wasn’t available to him while he was at work; at least Lily had gotten to have the house to herself most days. 

When he told her they had to stop having sex, he thought the difficult part would be losing the emotional connection, the intimacy. He never would have guessed that it would pose such a physical challenge for the both of them. It was like she’d become a biological need for him, as fundamental as food or water.

So when she started giving him the hard sell last night, how could he have possibly refused? He’d been dying of thirst in the desert, and there she was, dangling a canteen in front of his face.

He felt the impulse to blame her, to accuse her of manipulating him while he was in a vulnerable state, but that wasn’t fair and he knew it. It’s not like she put a gun to his head. He could’ve stopped after the first time, or the second, or the third, but he’d kept going until they both had to stop out of exhaustion. It wasn’t until he’d woken up this morning that he’d started to regret what he’d signed up for.

Still, it wasn’t too late to renege.

Behind him, Lily groaned softly as she stirred. She rolled over, pressing herself against his back as she wrapped an arm around him, her toes rubbing up and down the back of his calf. He tensed up as he thought about how she used to only reach down to his knees.

“That was the first decent night of sleep I’ve had in a week,” she purred into his ear, her voice low and groggy. He couldn’t disagree with her there; half the reason they had both been so on-edge was from how little their mutual temptations would let them sleep.

“I love you,” Lily whispered in his ear. “You’re so, so wonderful. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” She nuzzled his shoulder. “I know how much I’m asking you for. I know how hard it must be to go through with this.”

This was his opportunity. If he was going to back out of their deal, now was the time. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to pay you back for it yet, but I promise you, I will. I’ll find a way to make you as happy as you’re making me.” Her hand started rubbing his chest, then slowly moved down his stomach. He sighed as her fingers glided over his thigh.

He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life at 5’6”, but how could he possibly say no to her? How could he take back all the joy he had given his wife? If it really meant this much to her… then maybe it was worth it.

She readjusted behind him to get a better angle as her fingers encircled his cock.

“Not yet, Lily, I’m still tired. And sore.” It was true. Muscles all across his body ached: his thighs, his core, his jaw… and, of course, his groin.

“You’re sending me some mixed messages, big guy.” Sure enough, he was hardening in her grasp.

“I’m… sensitive, after last night. You need to be gentle.”

“Oh, of course, baby,” she cooed. “I’ll be so gentle.” He let out a small shudder as she began to slowly pump him. “As gentle as I can be, while I take care of my wonderful…” she paused to kiss his ear. “Generous…” Another kiss. “Sexy husband.” She nibbled his earlobe as she continued to work him back and forth, her grip firm but tender. He closed his eyes, losing himself in the soft, steady rhythm of her hand. His climax came slowly, a tide of pleasure rolling in across him. He gasped, his entire body clenching and then going slack as the wave receded. Lily released him, but continued to softly fondle him for a few moments while he basked in the aftermath.

“I know what I just said about owing you,” she teased as she sat up, rubbing his back. “But I do expect you to return the favor for that later. 

“Right now though, I want to get us measured.”

* * *

Lily loved to have a project.

When she was younger, she’d dreamed about a career in photography. A photojournalist, maybe, or a nature photographer. Shooting models for fashion magazines, or maybe even making fine art.

Unfortunately, she’d graduated just when print media had one foot in the grave and websites were all “pivoting to video.” Photography jobs were still out there, but the field had become so narrow and competitive that she never managed to get her foot in the door. 

Technically, she did have a “career” in photography, but wedding photos had never really been what she had in mind. It was all so samey, and her clientele was always stressed out, opinionated, and entitled. Plus, Tom’s accounting job brought in more than enough money for the two of them. She really only needed to book gigs when they were saving up for a big purchase, or more often, when she needed a reason to get out of the house. As the years progressed, she’d found herself with less and less motivation to work, booking fewer and fewer clients. The “photography” part of the equation had lost its spark for her a while ago; she barely even kept up with her old Instagram account anymore.

But now, she had something to shoot.

It was easy enough to convince Tom to keep documenting the process. It became more apparent by the day that there was very little a doctor could do about their problem, but just in case, the more records they had, the better. Of course, now that Lily was involved, Tom’s grainy attic selfies weren’t up to muster. He didn’t see the point in making the pictures look good, since they were just for documentation, but she’d taught him a long time ago not to challenge her on anything related to photography.

The spare bedroom in their home was a combination office and photo studio. Lily would sometimes have clients over for portraits, or use it for personal projects when inspiration struck her, which had been happening less and less lately. But it was certainly striking now.

The wall was covered by a large, dark blue sheet, which trailed a few feet onto the floor. Lily had gotten a bigger height chart, one that would show up better on-camera, and fastened it to the sheet. Combined with her lighting set-up and careful framing, it created the impression that the chart was floating in a void. Every day, she’d start with two standard photos, one of her and one of Tom, standing at attention in front of the chart.

Realistically, those were the only photos they needed. But where was the fun in that?

With the boring part out of the way, she’d join Tom in the frame, the camera set on a timer to take a new photo every few seconds. She’d spend as much time as he’d tolerate posing with him: their backs together, their arms around each other, photos of them kissing, photos of them hugging, photos of them pretending to measure each other on the chart. She could usually get at least 30 minutes of modeling out of him each day, and then she’d spend the rest of her morning going through the photos they’d taken, saving and organizing her favorites.

“I just don’t really get the point of all this, Lily,” Tom said as they wrapped up the day’s shoot.

“It’s fun! Let your wife have some fun.”

Tom gave her a half-smile. “I feel like my wife has been getting her way about a lot of things lately.”

She grinned impishly and leaned in against him, enjoying the way her head now slotted perfectly into the crook of his neck. “That’s because she has a very kind husband who loves to make her happy.”

“Well, I guess I can’t argue with you there. I am pretty great.”

Lily laughed, then shooed him out of the studio to go get ready for work. 

She was glad that he didn’t press her too hard about why she wanted so many photos.

Lily quickly sorted the new pictures into the correct folders, pairing them with similar-looking photos from the previous days. Then, she jumped to the beginning of the album that showed them standing arm-in-and-arm, posed like a couple’s portrait. Slowly, she clicked through the 20 photos she’d collected for this set so far. They’d had so much sex that first week that the changes were easy to see.

On Day 1, Tom was a bit under six foot, while Lily was a bit over five. Click. Tom shifted downward a little, while Lily shifted upward. Click. Tom had already lost nearly half an inch, while Lily had gained the same. Click, click, click. The previous inch had taken nearly three weeks, but after only five days, Tom was down to 5’11” while Lily had reached 5’1”. In the present, Lily began to breathe heavier. 

The next inch was slower; they couldn’t keep up the pace of those first few desperate, ravenous days, and besides, Lily wanted to have more photos. She kept clicking, watching herself grow and her husband shrink, the pictures creating an impression almost like a stop-motion animation. Far too quickly, she reached the most recent picture, the one she’d just uploaded: Tom not quite reaching the 5’10” mark, while Lily stood a hair over 5’2”.

Lily was practically panting as she looked at the new photo, one hand rubbing the back of her neck while the other slipped between her legs. All at once, she shoved away from her desk and jumped to her feet, leaving behind a trail of discarded clothes as she sped toward the master bathroom, where Tom was showering.

* * *

Tom wasn’t just shrinking.

He’d suspected as much from the beginning, but it had been hard to tell. Did he really look skinnier, or was it just that his body was losing its width alongside its height? But now that he’d lost another three inches (God, I’m really only 5’9” now…), he was sure that he was slimming down even relative to his size. As he stepped out of the shower, he appraised his body in the mirror. He’d weighed himself earlier at 151 pounds, about 80 pounds down from where he started. Some of that was from the shrinking, but his gut had also flattened out dramatically, and there was less flab around his thighs and forearms.

Had he really lost eighty pounds? That was how much Lily’s entire body used to weigh. A few months ago, he’d been nearly triple her weight, and now he was less than double. And that was before he factored in her own growth.

In the past couple days, it had become impossible to ignore that Lily’s proportions were changing, too. She’d always been extremely thin, even for her ultra-petite stature. Now, she actually had some modest curves. Her ass and thighs had filled out a bit, as well as her chest. She had tits now! Small ones, sure, but bigger than they’d ever been before. And, while they were small proportional to her body, they were also getting a boost in size from her growth.

Although he’d always been attracted to her, he wouldn’t pretend like these changes were unwelcome… though he might appreciate them more if they weren’t coming at his expense. If she wasn’t slowly draining him like a vampire, siphoning more and more of him away to make herself taller, sexier, bigger. 

He… he didn’t like that she was getting heavier and heavier in his arms, that he had to crouch a little less to kiss her every day, that due to his own shrinking perspective, she was already starting to look fairly tall to him. He certainly didn’t like the way the walls and ceilings of every room were gradually inching away from him, the way that every time he picked something up it seemed just a little heavier than last time, the way that his broad chest and thick arms seemed a little thinner every time he studied himself in the bathroom mirror, like he was right now. Why would he like any of that?

Tom was still naked, but the bathroom felt like it was getting warm. He shook his head to push those thoughts away, and moved toward the bedroom to get dressed. He never got the chance; his wife jumped him the second he opened the door.

* * *

Lily had finally made him move.

She was lying on the bed, Tom straddling her hips, his dick deep inside her. His hands were clamped around her wrists, as they often were. Being held down like this felt as good as ever; in fact, it felt even better. Because every day, she could look up into Tom’s face and see that he was having to struggle just a little bit harder to hold her down.

And just now, she had finally made his hand move.

Tom froze mid-thrust, and Lily felt an intense pulse of euphoria radiate from deep within her as she saw the sudden fear in his eyes. She started pushing harder against him, her arms trembling with effort. He was pushing harder too, throwing his full weight against her. 

But then, his “full weight” was a lot less than it used to be.

She dug deep to find one more burst of strength and, grunting loudly, shoved as hard as she could. Her hands raised an inch or two off the mattress, which was enough to make Tom lose his balance, followed by his grip. He collapsed on top of her as her freed arms shot into the air.

I just overpowered Tom! I just—ah!! Her thoughts were washed away by a tidal wave of endorphins, the thrill of her accomplishment pushing her to climax. She moaned and bucked her hips, and felt Tom come as well only a moment later. For a while they just laid there, wordlessly panting, drenched in sweat. Lily placed a hand on Tom’s back. Before, it would’ve been painful if he’d laid on top of her like this. It might even injure her. Now… it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she could bear it.

“We’ll have to check in the morning,” she said as she caught her breath. “But that should officially put me over 5’4”.” And put you under 5’8”.

They had done a lot of experimentation over the last month, and Lily had spent a lot of time analyzing her photos to try and figure out how this worked. She had a pretty good handle on the rules at this point. Their sizes would only change overnight, in their sleep; Tom would shrink and Lily would grow by about 1-2 millimeters per sexual encounter; the harder they came, the bigger the transfer. The type of sex didn’t seem to affect the outcome; whether they used their genitals, their hands, their mouths, or even a toy, so long as they made the other person come, whatever force in control of this would “count it.” But if only one of them came, the effect was never as strong. There was also some kind of “refractory period;” if Tom made Lily come multiple times in succession, that still only counted for one, though it was more or less guaranteed to have the maximum effect.

The question Lily still had no good answers for was why. What caused this? Would it ever stop? It was more obvious than ever that this problem was far more magical than medical, but Lily wasn’t having much luck researching real-life magic online.

The only clear answer was that it worked off of emotion. Physical intimacy was the trigger, and the magic was broad enough to encompass whatever that meant in the moment. It also seemed like it was responding to a deep-seated desire within Lily, a desire that she hadn’t even been aware of until all of this started. It seemed strange to her, though, that it wasn’t being as charitable to Tom, instead preying on a deep-seated fear that he’d been unwittingly harboring. As much as she was enjoying this, she also felt guilty that for Tom, this wasn’t fun at all, that she’d had to pressure him into making a sacrifice for her sake.

You’d think it would either curse us both or bless us both. 

Tom’s dead weight was starting to be a little much for Lily. She nudged him to scoot down and to the side, transferring some of his weight to the bed, then gently guided his head to lay on her breast. Even that gave her a bit of a thrill—she had breasts now. It had taken a while for her to realize that the magic was doing more than just “scaling her up,” that she was also getting a little, well, rounder. She wasn’t complaining; the extra weight was going to all the right places. Even the slight bulge of a belly that was beginning to develop looked more cute than anything. Her hips had widened as well, and that wasn’t just extra weight; she could feel bone not too deep under her skin. Whatever was happening was changing her skeletal structure.

It was changing Tom’s, too. She wrapped her arms around him, and could tell by feel and by sight that his shoulders and rib cage had grown narrower, even relative to his shrinking stature. She smiled at him protectively, reminded once again just how much he was giving up for her. She placed a hand on the back of his head and gently pressed it deeper against her chest.

“Five-four…” Tom muttered, beginning to doze off. “Just two more inches to go.”

Lily didn’t answer him. Instead, she just stared at the ceiling, an intense sadness suddenly overtaking her as she realized that this was almost over.

* * *

Tom was losing it.

Ever since he started shrinking, he’d become a lot less sociable at work. He spent as much time as possible holed up in his office, and did his absolute best not to stand up around anyone else. The last thing he wanted was to have to explain why he was getting smaller; he couldn’t really give a good explanation even if he wanted to. Plus, he was embarrassed to admit it, but Lily had been right: he had hung a lot of his ego off of his old height, and he was fostering a deep anxiety that his coworkers would think less of him as he quickly became the smallest man in the office.

Tom looked away from the spreadsheet he was editing and tugged awkwardly at his sleeves. Once his old clothes had gotten too big and baggy, he’d swapped over to clothes selected to fit his eventual 5’6” frame. They’d been way too tight at first, but now that he was down to 5’7”, they more or less fit, except that the sleeves and pant-legs were both a little shorter than he’d prefer.

He rubbed his eyes; he could really use a coffee. He had a clear line of sight from his office door to the break room, a fact he was very grateful for, since it meant he could wait until the coast was clear to go get something. Once it looked like everyone had filed out, he quickly slipped down the hall, poured a cup of coffee from the pot, and turned to head back.

And found himself face-to-face with Kathy. 

Of all the people for him to run into, it had to be Kathy. The tallest woman in the office. With her heels, he was staring directly into her lips, and he could feel intense waves of emotion wash over him as he tilted his head back to meet her gaze.

“Waves of emotion…” What emotion? Fear? Yeah, a little. Shame? Yes, but… something else. What… 

Oh, God.

Was this turning him on?

“Hey, Tom, I… didn’t recognize you from behind.” Kathy was clearly confused by what she was seeing. “I guess I, um… I guess I haven’t really seen you around much lately.”

“Yeah! Haha, I…” Tom was throwing everything he had into acting nonchalant, and it wasn’t working. “I’ve just been, really busy, lately. Kind of been, um… chained to my desk, y’know.” He awkwardly shifted his weight to try and find a stance that might help conceal his erection.

“Hey, are you… feeling okay?” She clearly had no idea how to address the 5’7” elephant in the room.

“Um! Yeah, no, uh, actually, I have been… a bit under the weather, lately, and… uh…” he was starting to hyperventilate. “Sorry, I need to, go, actually.” He dumped his coffee in the sink and took off for the bathroom, locking himself in a stall.

Oh God. Fuck. He unbuttoned his fly, his rock-hard penis pushing out from his slightly too-small pants. Without even thinking, he reached down and started stroking it. Kathy was so big now! Everyone was so big now! And they were going to keep getting bigger and bigger as he shrank smaller and smaller and—

What the hell are you doing! Get a grip! His self-control finally caught up to him. He heaved a huge sigh as he leaned back against the stall door and put his dick away.

Tom was losing it. He nearly started jerking off at work because he saw a woman a few inches taller than him. A woman who had to look down her nose to make eye contact with him…

Stop it.

A mental image began to form in his mind.

Stop. It.

He started breathing heavier, the crotch of his pants once again feeling tight.

Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP IT.

He imagined Lily, staring down at him the way Kathy just had.

And then he came.

Mortified beyond words, Tom did his best to clean himself up, then texted his boss: “sorry, feeling really sick, need to take off.” He practically ran to his car and drove to a nearby grocery store, where he pulled into the back of the parking lot and sat with his head in his hands for hours, until the time when Lily would start expecting him home.

* * *

Lily was 5’6”.

She’d spent the last hour staring at the photos from this morning’s shoot. She combed through each of them meticulously, praying for at least one picture that showed even a little bit of space between the top of her head and the inch mark. An excuse for just one more fuck. No dice. It was honestly impressive just how perfectly her and Tom had hit their target, given that the size transfer had some variance to it. She wondered if the magic had somehow taken their deal into account.

Lily was 5’6”. This was the end of the road. Tom had graciously, selflessly, agreed to give her enough height to make them equal, and that’s exactly what he did. Once he agreed, he hadn’t complained or tried to back out a single time, even though Lily often caught him with a look of worry or dread on his face. He had given her an incredible gift, at a gigantic cost to himself, and he’d probably be grieving those lost inches for years to come.

So she couldn’t ask him to keep this going. It just wouldn’t be right.

No matter how badly she wanted to.

That’s what these photos were for. She’d taken so many of them, and could relive the magic of getting bigger, of watching her husband shrink, over and over again. Unless they could figure out the root cause of this curse (or whatever it was), they were never going to have sex again, and Lily could already feel that same feral, uncontrollable lust from before welling up within her. So, here was what she was going to do: Tom was at work for another eight hours, and Lily was going to spend that time sitting here, looking at these pictures, and pleasuring herself raw, draining herself of even the slightest bit of sexual desire, so that she could enjoy a chaste, pleasant evening with her husband.

Because that’s what Tom deserved. He deserved a wife that was as good to him as he was to her. A wife that respected him, and the sacrifices he made for her. A wife that was big enough to take care of him… No, no no no. He already had that. But did he really? Wouldn’t it be so much easier to nurture and protect her husband if she were bigger? That… didn’t make any sense. Tom was an adult, he didn’t need to be “protected.” But then, he might, if he were smaller… she needed to stop thinking this way. It was wrong. But how could she say it was wrong when it felt so right, when it felt so good to grow? 

She needed to push these thoughts out of her head and focus on the pictures. 

It was really hot to scroll through them and watch as more and more of his mass was transferred to her. She was so enamored with the story these pictures told… but, wasn’t the story incomplete? The melody unresolved? This didn’t feel like an ending. It didn’t even feel like a midpoint. Both her and Tom were changing, transforming. Didn’t she want to see what this magic would ultimately turn them into? Wouldn’t that really be what was best for Tom? No, of course not. Respecting his wishes was what was best for him. 

But what if she knew better than him?

She shook her head. That was a terrible thing to think, and her arousal was briefly tamped down by shame. What the hell was wrong with her? At first, she’d assumed that these thoughts were a product of her own libido, that some part of her was trying to find a justification, however flimsy, to keep this going. But the more she struggled to get these ideas out of her head, the more she grew to suspect that there was something else going on here. Was this another effect of the magic? She knew that it had the power to drive her half-insane with lust; what if it could also influence what it was she lusted over? She’d never even thought of growing taller before, never imagined her husband shrinking. But ever since it started happening, she’d grown obsessed with it. Sexually obsessed. That had to be the magic’s doing, right?

Or… were these her true, secret feelings? Had she always felt this way deep down, in a part of her heart that she never acknowledged? Maybe she was just blaming the “curse” because even now that it was granting her deepest desires, she was ashamed to claim ownership of them.

It didn’t matter. Even if these were her real feelings, they were selfish feelings, and for her husband’s sake, she had to take control over them. She couldn’t keep… Oh God… she couldn’t keep fucking him smaller. She needed to have some self-discipline.

* * *

Tom was 5’6”.

He pulled into the driveway after another long, embarrassing day at work. Now that Kathy had seen him clearly, it was all anybody was talking about. Most people were too polite to question him about it directly, and for those who weren’t, he just made up some lie about it being a genetic condition. He told them not to worry about him, that he’d already been through the worst of it, and wouldn’t be getting any smaller. No, he didn’t know why they’d never heard of such a thing, or why no results came up about it online. They’d have to ask his doctor. At the first break in the conversation, he’d excuse himself and hide in his office, doing his best to stay there until the end of the day.

As he stepped into the house, he was surprised to see Lily just standing in the middle of the living room, shoulders rising and falling as she breathed, her posture bringing to mind an enraged bull.

“Uh… what’s up, hon?” he asked.

In response, she charged him, slamming him against the door as she jammed her tongue down his throat. He put his hands on her shoulders to try and push her away, but suddenly found his own body betraying him, moving instead to start peeling off her clothes.

Not long after, they were lying on the cold floor of the foyer half-naked, Lily continuing to kiss and nibble at his neck as he lay motionless.

Tom was, technically, no longer 5’6”.