THE HEALING HEART

by Zelda Clemens

  “Would you like me to walk you home, Nicole?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “And would you invite me into your apartment?”

  “Maybe I would.” She could think of no reason not to.

  “And into your bed?”

  “That depends…”

  “On what?”

  “On how good a kisser you are.” Her eyes widened as the words escaped her mouth. Why had she said such a thing?

  “Allow me to give you a sample.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Nicole sighed and fell into the kiss, opening her mouth so her tongue could meet his. Her entire body buzzed with excitement at the touch of his skin, the pressure of his big hands against her scalp and her back. He held her body close as her knees softened and failed. The world tilted and whirled, and her feet left the ground. Michael swept her up in his arms and carried her into the night, still kissing her firmly.

  *****

  Nicole’s apartment materialized around her. Her bed caressed her back as her outer clothes melted away, leaving her clad only in white bra and panties. She smiled as Michael disrobed, not caring what had led them to this moment, only that it existed, and she was awake to witness it.

  Deep thrills rippled through her body as he peeled off his clothing, revealing a trim and fit body. When his erection sprang free, released by his final piece of clothing, a small moan escaped her throat. Michael’s shaft was long as well as thick. Her pelvis tingled at the thought of it between her legs, of it sliding into her.

  “I want you, Nicole. I want every single bit of you.”

  “Mmm… that sounds like fun.” She grinned at him, then slipped a hand inside her panties. She was already wet, anticipating a thrilling night in her bed with this kind, wonderful and beautiful man.

  “I want your mouth. I want your breasts. I want your womanhood.”

  “I’m all yours. Take me now. Take me whichever way you desire.” The words sounded peculiar to her own ears, uncharacteristic, as if someone else had shaped her lips. But they also excited her.

  “I want to taste you in my mouth.” A shadow crossed his face. “I want every cell of your body, Nicole.”

  Nicole moved her knees apart. “Then taste me, lover. Eat me to your heart’s content.”

  “It’s not only your juices I want, Nicole.” Michael towered over her, his erection only inches above her face. “I want to taste everything about you.”

  “Hush, baby. Put your tongue on me. Taste me here first.” She pulled the panties to one side and exposed her moist lips to him.

  “Whatever you wish, Nicole,” Michael replied patiently. He lowered himself to his knees and began to kiss her thighs. Nicole groaned and let her knees fall further apart. This night was going to be wonderful.

  Michael quickly proved himself to be a practiced lover. His tongue sought her sensitive flesh, swirling and teasing, applying the right pressure as he spread her natural lubricants between her soft, swelling folds. Nicole arched and seized handfuls of his dark hair as he brought her to orgasm not once, but three times, before she managed to persuade him to move up her body. He kissed his way across her skin until his lips and tongue were able to explore her throat. A peculiar tingling arose as he touched her neck. Even as she groaned, he hissed, as if suppressing pain.

  “Are you all right, lover?” It didn’t seem peculiar to Nicole that she still didn’t know his name.

  “I am burning with desire for you, dear Nicole,” Michael replied.

  “I know. I can feel you against my tummy.” The heat of his swollen manhood was obvious. “I’m pretty hot for you too, baby.”

  “I speak of a different longing, Nicole.” He raised his head and gazed deep into her eyes. Her eyes searched his face, which had reddened, and was dotted with beads of sweat.

  “I like your longing,” Nicole said. She rocked her hips, rubbing her moist lips against his shaft. “You’re more longing than most men.”

  “Stop this childish talk!” Michael snapped. “You chatter and jabber while I suffer with need.”

  Nicole frowned at the unexpected outburst. “I’m sorry, baby. What do you need me to do for you?” I hope it’s nothing too kinky.

  “I need to taste more of you.”

  “You’ve tasted pretty much all my best bits, lover.” Nicole pressed her lips to his, inhaling the scent of her own juices.

  “I need to taste your skin…”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “…your sweat…”

  My sweat? That’s kinky alright.

  “…your blood.”

  Her eyes widened. “My what?”

  He nodded. “I have an urgent and overwhelming need to do so.”

  Although her head was swimming with lust and a peculiar dizziness, alarm bells sounded inside her head. Had she misheard him?

  “Would you permit me to do that, dearest Nicole?”

  “Taste my sweat?”

  “Your blood.” As he spoke, he shifted his hips, placing his swollen cock-head against her slippery outer lips.

  “Ah…” she was momentarily distracted. “Why would you want to taste my blood?

  “Because…” He tilted his hips, and his swollen head slipped into her opening. “…you would experience such ecstasy…” He applied pressure, and he slid into her, making her cry out. “…it would make you weep with joy.”

  Oh, wow…” She arched, groaning as he slid deeper.

  “Would you permit me that, dear Nicole? A single drop of blood to ease my suffering?” He pushed deep, filling her with heat and hardness.

  “Oh… fuck!”

  “In exchange for unending ecstasy?”

  “Nothing could feel better… than this.”

  “Oh, but it could, Nicole. This is merely an appetizer to a fabulous experience which could be yours to cherish forever.” He began stroking in and out, withdrawing almost completely, then pushing deep until his body was pressed against hers.

  “Oh, fuck… oh, fuck…”

  “Unending pleasure, Nicole. For a single drop of blood.”

  “I think… I’ll pass,” she managed to groan between cries. Immediately, Michael’s smooth, gentle strokes shifted into hard, frantic rutting.

  “You would… be so selfish… as to deny me?” His body slammed mercilessly against hers as his anger rose.

  “Holy fuck!” Nicole wailed. “Fucking… fucking… fuck!” She jammed her knuckles against her mouth to stifle her cries. His arms snaked around her, pulling their bodies together into a crushing embrace. Her breaths became quick and shallow, and her head spun until reality started to slip away.

  “Please… Nicole… indulge… me…”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

  “You would allow me to taste your blood?” His thrusting slowed minutely.

  “Fuck, no! But don’t stop what you’re doing! It’s fucking amazing!” She dug her fingernails into his buttocks and willed him to thrust harder.

  “One… single… fucking… drop…”

  “Oh, my God! I love the way you make me feel.”

  Michael growled as he hammered his loins against hers. The urge to forego the seduction and simply use his teeth to tear away her skin was overpowering. But he’d already tried, as had Adam, and he’d been repelled by an unknown force. Perhaps his nails would prove to be more effective. But as he pressed his fingertips to her skin, heat burned his hands, sending unbearable waves of pain through his forearms.

  “Fuck!” he cried. “Fucking hell!”

  “Yes, baby! Come for me!” Nicole cried, mistaking his cry for ecstasy. “Fuck me hard and come deep inside me!” Her legs rose to wrap themselves around his waist; her heels pressed into his back and she urged him ever faster. For a moment he resisted, wondering who she was to command him so, when she refused his simple request for blood.

  But then he surrendered to his primal urges and gave her what she wanted. They fucked for thirty more seconds, before he groaned deeply and flooded her with liquid heat. Nic
ole cried out and clung to him as waves of ecstasy rippled through her body. Every breath was a shallow wheeze, followed by a squeezed-out cry of happiness. For several minutes, she was unable to speak, but released the trapped Michael from between her legs as the blood thundered in her ears. She barely noticed his low growl of suppressed anger; she completely missed the touch of his lips to her throbbing carotid artery and the resulting hiss of pain as he was repelled by her blood.

  “Please, Nicole…”

  She patted his leg absently. “Give me a few minutes, lover. We can go again when I’ve managed to get my breath back.” The bed shifted as he moved away. “You really knocked the stuffing out of me.” Clothing rustled softly as he dressed, then crept out of the bedroom.

  “Not that I’m complaining. You were great! I might not be able to walk properly tomorrow, but… well, wow!” She lay on the bed, naked and perspiring as her front door closed silently. Masculine fluids trickled from her body and pooled on the bed cover, but she cared little about the mess as the listlessness that had held her since her encounter in the basement finally claimed her. Nicole drifted into a deep sleep, still wearing a contented smile. Dreams of shadowy lovers surrounded her throughout the night as Michael sought solace by drinking the blood of a lesser woman only half a mile away.

  *****

  Nicole scrambled from her bed when the second, panic alarm clock began to screech. She’d snoozed her regular clock—she glanced at the display to gauge the time—three times now.

  “Wow…” she groaned as she stretched. “I must have been so far gone…”

  With no time left to shower, she utilized some moist wipes to freshen herself up, then dressed quickly, wondering why she’d been so sticky between the legs. She’d had no hot dreams—that she could remember.

  “Maybe someone crept in through a window and had their wicked way with me.” She grabbed her purse and coat, then hurried out of the house. Time was short, so she flagged down a passing cab and threw herself into the back. She called out her destination before she’d settled herself into the seat.

  “Sure thing,” the cabbie called as he turned in the street. “Running late?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Party last night?”

  Nicole sighed. Why did cabbies insist on chatting? “Nope. Spent the night…” She frowned. What had she done last night? “…watching TV,” she finished, rather than invent a reason.

  “Didn’t think there was much on last night, not on a Monday. What’cha watch?”

  “Re-runs,” Nicole said, then stared out of a side window, hoping he’d lose interest.

  “Must have been good re-runs,” he said, undeterred. “You have a real glow in your cheeks.”

  “Oh, my God…” Nicole pressed her fingers to her cheeks, which were burning. What had she been doing?

  ~

  “What happened to you last night?” Eddie demanded.

  “Oh, not you as well,” Nicole groaned.

  “As well? Why, who else did you run and hide from?”

  “I don’t remember hiding anywhere,” Nicole replied.

  “Then how did you get home Miss Afraid-of-the-dark? Answer me that!”

  “I…” She sagged. “Eddie, I honestly have no idea how I got home, or what I did all night.”

  “You had another blackout?”

  “I don’t think so. I woke up in bed.” Naked and sticky instead of in my jammies.

  “But you have no memory of your time after work?”

  “Nothing at all.”

  “Then I think you’re right. You should speak to someone. Do you want me to arrange an appointment?”

  “If it’s no trouble.” She stared at her shoes. “I’d probably forget to book it.”

  ~

  Nicole suffered no further memory loss during her shift. And when Eddie reminded her that the time had come to go home, she thanked him, and went outside to hail a cab. Her brow wrinkled as the cab pulled over, driven by the same man who’d brought her to work.

  “Uh… hello again.”

  “Miss re-runs, isn’t it? How are ya?”

  “Feeling better than I did this morning.”

  “Going straight home?”

  “Uh… I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” she said cautiously.

  “It is if I’m driving you there. If you’re planning on going somewhere else, be sure to let me know, though.” He leaned back in his seat and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

  Nicole laughed nervously. “I’m sorry. Of course you need to know. I guess I’m still dopey.”

  “So it’s home, then?”

  “Yes. Home, please. Do you remember—” But the cab was already moving in the right direction. Nicole sat back to watch the traffic roll past.

  “Are you eating properly?”

  “What?” Who are you? My mother?

  “If you’re not using the right fuel, the engine ain’t gonna rev sweetly.”

  “I guess not.”

  “Make sure you eat properly tonight. If I wasn’t so busy, I’d offer to cook for you myself.”

  “You cook?”

  He shrugged. “Amongst other talents. I’m half Italian.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Name’s Adam, by the way.”

  “Nicole,” she replied without thinking.

  “Nice to meet you, Nicole.”

  Adam left Nicole to her own thoughts for the remainder of the journey, for which she was grateful. When they arrived outside her apartment, she handed him a generous tip, and pulled on the door handle. The door remained firmly closed. She pulled harder and pressed her shoulder to the frame, but it refused to open.

  “Oh, sorry. Let me get that.” Adam climbed out and walked around. When he lifted the handle, the door swung open immediately. Nicole shook her head as she climbed out.

  “Sorry, lady. Something wrong with the mechanism inside. I need to fix it.”

  “It’s okay. Thanks… Adam.” She glanced up into his dark eyes…

  …and froze.

  “My pleasure, Nicole. Now, if you’d care to invite me in, I’d like to cook something hot for you, by way of an apology.”

  “Invite you in…” Nicole echoed softly.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t want to intrude, but you need someone to take care of you. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Someone to massage your feet, and rub your back?”

  “Rub my back?” Nicole smiled gently. The idea appealed greatly. She hadn’t noticed any discomfort from her feet or back, but now the idea was in her head, she relished the idea of having her aches massaged away.

  “I’m a man of many talents,” Adam declared.

  “I’m beginning to see that. But didn’t you say you were busy tonight?”

  He shrugged. “Tuesdays are dead. I’m happy to spare you some time.” He leaned closer. “Your feet are really aching, aren’t they?”

  Nicole groaned. “I need to get out of these shoes.” From hardly troubling her at all, the pain in her feet had become intolerable. She urgently needed a massage, and the ideal person was offering to help her.

  “If you’re sure…”

  “Of course I’m sure. I’d be happy to help. Lead on.” His arm swept in the direction of her door. Needing no further bidding, the slightly uncoordinated Nicole hurried toward her apartment. When the door was open, she indicated that Adam should step inside. As she followed him, she completely missed his final backward glance at the dark figure standing across the street.

  ~

  Adam’s foot massage was brief, but wonderful. The mysterious and unpleasant ache faded as quickly as it had begun, so when he suggested she undress and lie on the bed, she complied, eager to ease the dull ache in her lower back. But when his fingers unhooked her bra, she panicked.

  “Wait, what are you doing?” She gathered her boobs in her hands.

  “The bra strap will get in the way, Nicole.”

  “You were supposed to be massaging my lower back, Adam.”


  “I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience much more once you’re topless.” He leaned over so he could gaze directly into her eyes. Nicole’s resistance melted away.

  “Well… okay, but no peeking, okay?”

  “Okay. Not unless you ask me to.” Adam smiled knowingly.

  “I’m sure I won’t be doing that.”

  He leaned close to Nicole’s ear. “You’ll become very excited, I imagine. And you might want to turn onto your back once the ache has gone.”

  “And I might not,” Nicole said. “You’re presuming a lot, Adam.”

  He shrugged. “We’ll see.” He laid his hands on her lower back and slid them across her skin. “The ache will disappear quickly, Nicole, and then you might want me to put my hands to other uses.”

  “Really?” She raised a cynical eyebrow. “Such as?”

  “Massaging your buttocks.” He slid his hands over her rounded cheeks to demonstrate.

  “Hey!”

  “You don’t think it feels nice?” He squeezed her cheeks firmly.

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t nice. But it started as a back massage.”

  “Does your back ache?”

  “I…” Nicole frowned. “No, no, it doesn’t. How can that--”

  He wriggled his fingers. “I have magic hands. You know what else I can make happen?”

  “What?”

  “I can make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel amazing, and make you beg me stop but never stop.”

  “And which one are you planning to do next?”

  “All of them.” He slipped his hand between her legs and stroked her panties.

  “Oh, my God!” Her entire body stiffened. “What are you doing?”

  “You won’t stop me, Nicole. You won’t want to. You’ll beg me to make you cry out until you sleep.”

  “You’re taking a lot for granted, Adam.” She struggled to hide her smile. Truthfully, the idea of him touching her was sending waves of heat through her body. Lying helplessly beneath him while he caressed her was a wonderful thrill. His fingers were firm against her lips, sending electric tingles into her pelvis. He was right, she felt no desire to stop him.