[The Shifters Committee 01.0] Time Shifters

by Rebecca Foxx

  Over the rest of her University years, she had a fair number of boyfriends that made her feel desirable and in control. None of them, however, gave her the same thrills as Luciano had, or made her feel sweetly vulnerable and submissive, or like sharing details of her life.

  Although it had been the reason for her pain, secretly, it was also the reason why she wouldn’t hold on to any relationship more than a couple of months and always was the one to break it up.

  Luciano didn’t give her any sign of life, whatsoever. She would hear about his family on the news and, occasionally, also about him.

  She would see him briefly around the campus, and, at first, it disturbed her, but it was either fate or his elusive way of being that made it so that they never passed each other close by again. Slowly, she was forgetting about him… or was it that she was turning everything into a dream? Her chest pains would still come back with every full moon, though.

  On her third year, she heard about him getting married and even saw footage on the news of him with some blond, beautiful, but frail looking girl at his side, an heiress to another important company on the Moon.

  Suddenly, while she was watching it, Tallah felt her heart starting to pound in her chest and to sting her painfully. She knew she was having a panic attack as she began to hyperventilate, under the concerned looks of her roommate, so she ran outside the dorm and across the campus.

  It was a dark night and pouring heavily, so no one else was out. Tallah dropped down to her knees and began crying, letting her tears mingle with the rain drops, letting them cool her down and wash away her pain.

  While she was crying, the rain stopped, and, as within a dream, the clouds parted on one side of the sky and a blindingly white, full moon appeared. She watched it mesmerized and felt she was healing from it, although the moon was her ultimate symbol for Luciano.

  But that particular moon felt like a promise to her, a luminous watcher in that dark night of her soul, telling her to be strong. She perceived her pain being alleviated from her. From that night on, Tallah never suffered over Luciano again.

  As she had known all along, and as a lot of people predicted for her, after getting her Psychology Major, she became a psychotherapist and was immediately employed at one of the largest private practices in New York, first for an internship, and then as a fully fledged therapist.

  The fast paced environment suited her. She was mainly single, had a fling once in a while, just out of physical reasons, but her job was her life.

  She had just celebrated her 27th birthday when her boss called her into his office to announce her off the record that they were going to counsel a secret patient, a filthy rich guy that wanted to stay anonymous.

  Tallah agreed curiously, but when she heard that the man had asked specifically for her, she felt nervous.

  And when she was told he would not take no for an answer and even alluded to being able to close down the practice, if they don’t comply with his demands, she froze. In her head, one name lit up, like a billboard. Her boss confirmed it, a few seconds later.

  “This man is Tenacce’s grandson, Luciano Karlen.”

  At the mention of his name, Tallah remained quiet. Only her fingers fidgeted restlessly.

  “Please, Tallah. You are my best young psychotherapist. Just do it and save us all the trouble of going against these people… whom no one can go against. He’s paying you a ridiculous sum of money, by the way, for a week of daily sessions.”

  She couldn’t care less about the money; she was already being paid very nicely and she wasn’t the one to hoard wealth. Of course, she would have to cancel all her other appointments.

  “There’s one more thing.” her boss said.

  She remembered thinking: What else could it possibly be? But nothing could have prepared her for what followed.

  “You will have to go… on the Moon.”

  Chapter 5

  She had never been to the Moon. Had never wanted it, it had never been one of her dreams.

  Yet there she was now, under the largest atmosphere dome on the Moon, the one owned so to say, by the Tenacce family.

  Under it, it felt like a night on Earth: the night went on for two weeks there, she had read. The city was as bright and busy as any other human city.

  She was however in awe of the spectacular view of the Earth from there and she had caught it in a full phase; it had such a magical feel, that she could only think how much she loved that planet.

  Tallah was taken to a huge mansion and informed she would be staying there, everything being taken care for her, even given a car and a driver if she wanted to visit the dome, or go shopping during day time.

  She would be told when Mr. Karlen would have time to see her in an appointment. Tellah felt frustrated: it was her who was making the appointments normally. She went to bed kind of brooding.

  The next morning she was announced that Mr. Karlen will be seeing her after lunch. At the set time, she was taken to a door and prompted to knock, when she just stood there.

  Although she strived to keep a cool exterior, inside she felt nervous. She knocked and heard his voice telling her to come in. And there he was, after all that time.

  He stood up from his desk and went directly towards her, very excited:

  “Tallah?! By God, you look great!” and although she took a few steps back, he still got to her and hugged her.

  She stood there, awkwardly, while he did, closed up inside and not allowing herself to actually feel him hugging her. He broke away, still holding her shoulders.

  “Let me look at you! You’ve… stretched your hair. It looks awesome on you.”

  “Thank…” she started and wiggled her shoulders out of his grip.

  “And you’ve got rid of your glasses.” he continued, pointing towards his eyes. “I did, too, as you can see.”

  That she had noticed the first time. And also the short haircut and the deepened furrow between his eyebrows and the expression wrinkles framing his mouth. But she wasn’t supposed to look at him like that… nor he to her.

  “Lou… “

  “And you’re thin!” he exclaimed, which wasn’t true; she had lost considerable weight since they had been together, but still, she wouldn’t have called herself… “thin”.

  “Well now, I wouldn’t say…”

  “What happened?” he frowned. “You don’t eat properly? You overwork yourself? Haha, not like I could provide a better example!”

  “Lou… why did you send for me?” she interrupted him, almost cross. “Do you really need counseling? I mean, you’ve threatened my boss you’d close down his practice.”

  Luciano laughed wholeheartedly.

  “Wow… perceptive and to the point, as always.”

  Then he waved his finger at her, with a squint of his eyes, the way he did when they were students:

  “You…” he said lovingly, then put his hands on his hips. “Right. I do. I do need counseling. And I wouldn’t have trusted anybody else. Please.”

  He invited her to sit on the couch. Only then Tallah noticed how beautifully and stunning the Earth could be seen from the large window of his huge office. To stop herself from gawking, she said:

  “Normally, you would sit on the couch while I should take… this armchair.”

  Luciano approved with his head and so they were seated facing each other. He was looking at her in that intense way of his and the fact he wasn’t wearing his glasses was not helping her.

  “So,” she began, “what do you need counseling for?”

  He spread his arms and said cheerfully, in great contrast with his message:

  “I’m mourning.”

  Tallah’s jaw dropped.

  “My wife died some time ago. And I’m… feeling absolutely nothing.”

  Tallah was dumbfounded. She had heard nothing of it on the news. And she was not sure what to make of his attitude.

  “Sorry! I must seem awful.” Luciano picked up on her thoughts. “I will tell you all
about it.”

  He told her about his arranged marriage. His late wife was of a frail constitution, the reason she eventually got very sick and died. She was also whiny and very posh.

  They were very different and almost couldn’t see eye to eye. So each of them had their own separate lives; they had lived in the same house, but as complete strangers, and, in a mansion like that, it wasn’t hard. Tallah took her assignment seriously and listened to everything he told her and counseled him the best she could.

  During the next week, they met each day after lunch. Little by little, Tallah began to unwind. Their “therapy” sessions moved away from the subject of mourning and started to feel like conversations between two friends, much like the ones they used to have all those years ago.

  He would make her laugh a lot. Still, they hadn’t talked a thing about their past relationship, or how it ended. He meant to start a few times, but she would turn his words around and change the subject.

  She was adamant about her decision to not let him come close again. Until her last day there, when, instead of after lunch, Luciano called her to his office in the evening, also to have casual dinner with her.

  Convinced it wasn’t such a good idea if she actually wanted to keep to her decision, Tallah accepted nevertheless, the same way she had accepted to go to his place, as a student. She was feeling slightly giddy inside, although she was denying it as much as she could.

  While they were just casually talking, Luciano suddenly got up and went towards the great window of his office.

  “I have often watched the Earth like this, thinking… about you.”

  Tallah rose from her armchair. She wanted to go to him so bad. But contained herself.

  “I was a fool! I ran away from you because I knew you were the right one for me, but… Oh, I was so horrible! I had no material interest to gain from you and that was a big part of my life... it was about my want for power, never about the clan.”

  He turned towards her.

  “God! I shouldn’t have said that. But you know me… I just tell it like it is. Or like it was. I am not that person anymore. And I have to say this.”

  He moved closer to her.

  “To me, you’ll always be the one that got away, Tallah.”

  “Lou… you should stop talking.” Tallah told him, blinking repeatedly.

  “I won’t! Not anymore, not after what I’ve been through inside, all these years, trying to convince myself it was just a physical thing. It never was: I liked everything about you, every aspect you got to show me. You are the one that is right for me in every way.”

  “Lou… please…” Tallah begged, quietly, a slight tremble in her voice.

  “And I am sorry if I caused you pain. I should’ve never done that. Please, forgive me.”

  He moved closer still until there was just one step left between them.

  Please, don’t say anything else… she wanted to tell him, but her words wouldn’t come out.

  Completely veiled in his voice, every phrase of his resounding both pleasantly and painfully in her body, her breath was starting to come fast and her hands were cold and shaky.

  She looked down, unable to face his eyes, knowing very well the fire in them would subdue her, make her forget her morals.

  “Tallah…” he said and she thought it was the most beautiful pronunciation of her name.

  She waited for him to add something else, but instead he simply took the last step that kept them apart and slowly leaned his forehead into hers. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply when they touched and then exhaled almost like a sigh when she felt the fingers of his right hand gently entangling with hers.

  His hand was warm while hers was cold and slightly damp. His whole being felt warm though their bodies weren’t touching and she perceived his short, rather fast breathing as an echo to hers. It was driving her mad. And so did his scent. All their moments together were coming back to her.

  The prickles inside her chest were sending numbing tingles down her arms and legs and butterflies were fluttering their wings in her stomach, like crazy.

  Her heart was pounding in her ears and, through her fingers she could feel his pulse, throbbing in the same rhythm. As if he could sense her mind there, he squeezed her hand tightly, like hanging on to a lifeline, and it didn’t feel painful, but rather like their palms were merging.

  “Tallah…” he uttered again, in a whisper. “I know this isn’t fair.”

  His nose touched hers, rubbing it slowly and ever so gently. He continued:

  “But I want you… so much.”

  In his words she didn’t feel sheer want or desire, but something else, something huge, incomprehensible. He wanted her whole being; he wanted her with him, in this life.

  The realization of it exploded in her chest and traveled down to her stomach. Her right hand dashed, covering his mouth and she turned her face from him, to let out a couple of short, sharp breaths. His cheek was now touching hers, his nose close to her ear and she could perceive him smelling her hair.

  “Lou…” she whispered dryly and as composed as she could, trying hard not to let the tears climb up her throat. “I’m leaving tomorrow. It really isn’t fair.”

  He kissed the inside of her hand, understanding, and she uncovered his mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, smiling slightly, leaning longingly into her cheek. “I don’t want to hurt you again. It’s just…”

  He released her hand, and it felt as if he was again taking away a piece of her heart, that had just been re-added.

  “I can’t help myself when I’m around you. Never could. You must know that.”

  As he was about to move away, her fingers reached desperately for his and their palms were glued back together in a second. But this was just a part of the completion she was longing for.

  “I… I… um…” she stuttered. “I need closure. Just that. And then we’ll each go our separate ways. Because, like you’ve once said, we’re not each other’s types and…”

  Her voice trembled with both pain and anticipation. Luciano covered her mouth with his and chained her up in his arms hungrily, like a tiger jumping on a tender doe.

  Only, this time, Tallah proved as wild an animal, as he was. They were pulling off each other’s clothes in no time, sending them flying through his office, sucking each other’s lips, entangling their tongues, sinking their fingers and teeth into each other’s flesh.

  Pressed with her back against the wall, her breasts were his to taste and squeeze greedily and then she stuck him to the wall, to knead his muscles and nibble his nipples, which made him draw short breaths and then chuckle, in his usual way, when he felt nervous, or excited.

  He walked her backward to the couch and leaned her down to lick the soft skin of her belly, stroke her waist and brush her inner thighs with his nails, giving her goosebumps and making her breath come faster.

  She pushed him down on the floor and licked and bit into the hard stomach muscles, just enough to provoke a shade of pain, that would turn into a delicious thrill. He approved with hums of pleasure.

  But she didn’t stop at that. Licking ever lower, looking him in the eye and slightly scratching his ribs and thighs, she grabbed him and took him into her mouth and played with her tongue on the long, hard surface, until she felt him throbbing.

  He sunk his fingers into her shoulder with a moan, stopping her before he could reach his release; she could feel him so well, all that he was feeling and she moaned back, letting him go nevertheless, watching his transfigured face, head backward, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, as he drew in long calming breaths.

  Tallah didn’t let him get too comfy and immediately climbed all over him, grabbing him again and pushing against him. She wanted him so much, she had wanted him for all those years, him, only him, the only one who could make her feel this way, like she belonged to someone.

  She belonged to him; he belonged to her, with her, inside of her. She moved above him, enjoying the len
gth of him inside her and he grabbed her hips and moved with her, in the same rhythm, playing like that for a while, until the burn inside her womb made her pick up the pace.

  She took one of his hands and put it on her breasts and he squeezed and fondled them, then pushed his index into her mouth and she enjoyed that and sucked on it, leaving it wet.

  He used it to press against her nipples, making her tilt her head backward and then squirm and moan when he went down to her little button of pleasure, rubbing it, making the sensations both from the inside and outside unite, until they finally exploded in her belly and climbed upwards into her chest and head. She sunk her fingernails deep into the flesh of his thighs and her body jerked and winced.