Healer's Touch

by Kirsten Saell

  “Shh, love,” Viera whispered softly, for Inella’s ears alone. Even now she didn’t realize how keen Aru’s senses were, especially when he was aroused. “Relax, my dear,” she breathed against Inella’s neck. “I want to taste you. I want to touch you everywhere. I want to kiss you here.” Her fingers twirled in the thick hair covering Inella’s mound, teasing and light, almost tickling her. Turning a heavy moment into something playful. Inella sighed acquiescence and returned Viera’s tender kiss with a fervor that made something clench painfully and unnervingly inside Aru.

  Even as his hand worked his cock, even as Viera began to kiss and caress her way down Inella’s torso, Aru’s misgivings grew. He was still on fire to watch Viera drink up Inella’s nectar, still eager to see her do all manner of wicked things to the other woman. Why then would such a gentle, sweet, almost innocent kiss fill him with disquiet?

  Viera had now crawled between Inella’s spread legs, and Aru shook his head, dismissing the question for what it was—an irrelevant distraction. He shifted to one side so he could see everything. Viera’s lips and tongue trailed a path of wet kisses from Inella’s inner thigh, up to her belly, then down again on the other side. Inella’s hips undulated with every touch. Aru looked at her face. Her hair was strewn like a silk carpet beneath her, her eyes closed, her cheeks flushed, her lips parted on panting, gasping breaths. Her hands were at her sides, fisted in the blankets as she waited for what was to come.

  When he looked again, Viera was running one thumb along the seam of Inella’s inner lips. Like the petals of a flower, they opened to the air, slick and pink, her clitoris standing rigid as a stamen. She drew in a hissing breath as the chill in the room washed over her aroused flesh, and another when Viera’s naughty thumb pressed down on the button of her clit.

  Aru’s heart hammered, the noise of rushing blood hissing in his ears. “Do you like that, Inella?” he heard himself ask, as if from far off.

  “Ahhh, yes,” Inella whispered.

  “Do you want my Viera to kiss your pretty pearl, Inella?”

  Inella only let out a wordless whimper.

  “Tell me, Viera,” he asked softly. “Does Inella want you to kiss her there?”

  Viera smiled over her shoulder at him. “I think she must.”

  His hand stilled on his cock. Her eyes locked on his, putting words in his mouth. “How can you tell?”

  He watched as her fingers slid deep into the other woman’s slit, spreading the plump lips wide open. “Because she’s so wet.” Her thumb pressed down again on Inella’s clit, harder this time, eliciting an eager little wriggle and a high-pitched squeal.

  “Is she?” Aru croaked, a steady rivulet of fluid trickling down the length of his shaft.

  Viera drew her hand away and showed him her fingers, glistening with Inella’s juices, before licking them clean. He watched without breath, even his heart standing still in his chest as his vision narrowed to exclude everything else in the room.

  “Very, very wet,” Viera replied, her eyes flicking down to his dripping cock, then back up to his face.

  And then she dipped her head forward, her nostrils flaring at the scent of Inella’s arousal, and dragged her tongue up that sopping, swollen valley, from opening to clit and back down again.

  “Ahhh, Salgrim help me…” Inella gasped, her back arching right off the bed.

  Dizzy with excitement, Aru stepped closer, leaning in, taking great care that no part of him touched either woman. He could see Viera’s tongue working the rigid nub of Inella’s clit, could hear the wet, lapping noises it made. He was so close to coming, he thought he might die of it.

  So was Inella. Her whole body was drawn taut like a green twig about to split, her back arched, her legs splayed, her nipples tight and pointed. She murmured, “Salgrim help me, Salgrim help me,” over and over, clinging to the god’s name as if to an anchor. Her hands tunneled into Viera’s hair to pull her face harder against her sex, dislodging the combs that held it back. Aru almost screamed his frustration as a wavy auburn lock fell across Inella’s thighs, blocking his view.

  But his Viera, she was quick. Gathering up her tresses, she tossed them over her shoulder and out of the way, her tongue on Inella’s cunt never missing a stroke. As he watched, pulling his cock faster and faster, she pushed two fingers into Inella’s channel, all the way to the last knuckle, then took the hard knot of Inella’s clit into her mouth and sucked. Hard. Inella screamed—not the god’s name, nor Viera’s, nor any other’s. Her cry was wordless and primal, like the howl of an animal. It resounded in Aru’s flesh, setting his every nerve to quivering as his balls tightened and his cock began to buck in his grasp. He gasped with the force of his release, and his come spattered all over Inella’s thighs and belly, all over her still seizing cunt. And as he trembled with the last, agonizing spasms of his orgasm he watched Viera lap up his seed and the last glistening wetness that lingered between Inella’s legs.

  And watching, he was hard again almost instantly.

  But Viera was done for the night. With one last kiss for Inella’s quivering sex, she slid off the bed and stood, her camisole whispering about her breasts and hips. Reaching out, she took Inella’s hand and helped her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her. Viera’s hand brushed across the other woman’s cheek in a quick caress, before she turned to Aru.

  “Good night.”

  He stared at her, at her luscious, curvy body, her tumbled-down hair, her lips wet and face still glowing with the dampness of Inella’s come and his own. She had given to both of them tonight and had taken no pleasure herself, but he could not have imagined a more satisfied expression on anyone’s face. She didn’t gloat, precisely, but it was clear that she had got exactly what she wanted. The fact that Aru was stiff and ready again could only please her better.

  He opened his mouth to bid her good night, then thought better of it. He wasn’t capable of controlling himself right now. If he spoke, it would only be to beg her to stay, and the moment he did that, he was lost.

  He watched her turn and leave, taking Inella with her, and something went cold and hollow inside him. His cock seemed impervious, lusting with the mindlessness of a beast, even as all Aru’s doubts and recriminations came rushing in to fill the emptiness.

  He looked at his rumpled bed. Crawled under the blankets and put his head on the pillow. The linens were still warm with the heat from their bodies. He lay there willing his stubborn erection away, trying not to replay the images of the past hour in his mind.

  It was some time before he realized he hadn’t heard Inella’s footsteps on the stairs heading back to the infirmary.

  Inella lay in the circle of Viera’s arms and thought over all that had happened tonight. All she had allowed to happen. Her face filled with heat at the memory. Odd, that she should feel more chagrin from what she’d done tonight than from all the many times she’d fucked a man for money. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Viera was a woman.

  It had everything to do with the fact that Inella had taken pleasure in it.

  Deep down, she even understood the shame she felt. There was a moral certitude to be found in knowing that though she sold her body, she did so only to feed her children. A part of her hadn’t even registered Viera’s earlier remark about the cheap, earthly pleasure of whoring—there had certainly never been any such pleasure in it for Inella. And the fact that she took no satisfaction from it was the one thing that had allowed her to do what was necessary and still keep her deepest self apart from the taint of sin.

  It wasn’t that she hated sex. She’d just always been…unmoved by it. Even with Ned, it had been little more than another chore in her busy day. The real pleasure for her had come from lying like this with him afterward, his arms close around her body, his breath fanning the back of her neck. And there was a pleasure in it, even here and now with Viera, but despite herself, her mind kept returning, again and again, to the mindless, wanton bliss she had found in Aru’
s bed, under the skilful hands of the other woman.

  And even as her cheeks warmed from shame, she found herself smiling into the dark. She felt like a child with her fingers in the honey jar, stealing a few drops of sinful sweetness when other eyes were elsewhere. And that thought led to a sudden memory of Viera’s fingers, coated with slickness, and her pink tongue curling around them, licking them clean.

  Inella shifted, squeezing her legs together as if she could hold the heat in that way.

  Viera’s arms tightened and her hand slid into Inella’s. “What is it, my dear?”

  “I don’t know. I just…” She frowned, shifting in Viera’s embrace. “I never imagined I could feel like that. Do you think maybe…was it always in me, just waiting for Aru to come along and wake it up?”

  She could feel Viera’s lips and the breath from her nostrils on her shoulder, comforting and stirring at the same time.

  “Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t please you.”

  Viera’s breath halted for a moment, then resumed. “What makes you think you didn’t please me?”

  Inella shrugged, her belly tight and aching. “You never…well, you didn’t…”

  “I didn’t come,” Viera said softly. “It was a choice, a message for Aru. That didn’t mean I took no pleasure from you. Your softness, your innocence—”

  “Innocence?” Inella choked, not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry.

  Viera pulled away, tugging Inella’s hand to turn her around. It was a very hard thing to meet the other woman’s eyes, but Inella forced herself.

  “Yes, innocence. You have no idea what it feels like to know that no other person has touched you like I have, no one else has ever brought you that kind of pleasure. No one else has tasted your come pouring onto their tongue, or felt your cunt shudder against their mouth.”

  Inella shut her eyes against waves of heat at Viera’s words. Surely it must burn the woman’s tongue to speak such things, just as it set Inella’s ears aflame to hear them. A moment later, she felt the other woman’s lips on hers, coaxing them open, and her breath was like fire.

  Viera slid her tongue into Inella’s mouth, reveling in the tiny sigh of pleasure the other woman gave. She only wished Aru were here to see what she did. She pictured his face, pale and angular, the eyes huge and slanted and gleaming in the dark like a cat’s, his body perfectly carved as if from the whitest marble. Behind her closed eyelids she saw herself sliding into his arms, running her fingers along his unblemished skin, taking the perfect, smooth length of him between her hands while her lips sought his.

  Inella was kissing her back, leaning closer. A moment later, she propped herself up on one elbow and ran a hand down Viera’s torso to her hip.

  “Would you like me to…?” the woman asked against her mouth.

  Viera arched, her stomach clenching on a renewed wave of desire, and pressed her body close to Inella’s. “Please,” she whispered.

  Inella’s hand slid to Viera’s belly and lay there for a moment, as if in indecision. Her breath fanned Viera’s lips in hot little bursts, her chest heaving.

  Viera smiled. “Shall I tell you what to do?”

  “Yes!” Inella blurted, then let out a nervous giggle. “I’m sorry. I just…”

  Viera reached up and took the woman’s face in her hands, pulling back to look at her. All trace of a smile vanished from Inella’s face as a flush stole up her cheeks and her eyes darkened. Viera brushed a thumb across her lips. “I want your mouth on my breasts, Inella.”

  The very picture of obedience, Inella leaned down and took one nipple between her lips, suckling gently through the filmy silk of Viera’s camisole as her hand skimmed up to cup the roundness of her breast. Nice, but, “Harder, my dear,” Viera instructed, holding Inella’s head closer as moisture pooled in her cunt. “Ahh, yes,” she hissed as Inella’s mouth tugged more firmly on the knot of flesh, sending a stab of heat through Viera’s belly and setting her clit to throbbing. “Just like that.”

  Warming to her task, Inella switched to the other breast, lapping at the peaked tip with her tongue, soaking the fabric with saliva. Then she tugged the hem of the camisole up and over Viera’s breasts, baring them to the cool air. Her already tight nipples hardened into almost painful points. Inella plucked at them with her fingers, tweaking and pinching until Viera had to bite her lip to keep from squealing. Her pussy was so hot and wet and full of blood she thought she’d go mad from it.

  “God, oh god, Inella. Put your hands on me. God, put your fingers inside me. Make me come.”

  Inella’s fingers slid into her slit, stroking up and down, spreading Viera’s wetness all over her labia. They circled around her opening, dipping inside, then pulling out, teasing and playful. In impatience, Viera thrust her hips upward. Inella’s two fingers thrust into her, all the way to the last knuckles. They pulled out, then stabbed in again, and Viera’s hips rose up to meet them. Inella’s lips still sucked at the aching tip of her breast, nipping and lapping, torturing the tight bud while her fingers drove Viera nearly senseless.

  “My clit, my clit,” Viera panted, feeling the pressure build in the swelling pebble of flesh.

  And then, thank god, Inella’s thumb was there, pressing hard, rubbing back and forth. As Viera’s senses gathered, she imagined Aru’s hands on her, Aru’s lips at her breast, Aru’s cock where Inella’s fingers pushed high up inside her. She imagined the three of them coiled on the bed, a tangle of limbs shuddering with desire, pictured Aru pounding into her from behind while she ate Inella’s sweet cunt splayed so beautifully before her. She imagined Aru’s seed spilling into her in hot jets until she couldn’t hold it all, and in that moment, she cried out and rose up off the bed, her inner muscles spasming around Inella’s thrusting fingers. Her hands clutched at the other woman as if to a piece of driftwood in a maelstrom as every nerve in her body fired at once.

  Awareness gradually reasserted itself. Her heart still slamming, she nestled deeper into the other woman’s embrace, stroking a hand down the fine silk of her hair.

  “You love him, don’t you?” Inella whispered.

  Viera’s stomach clenched painfully, but she forced her breath to slow. “Why do you say that?”

  “You cried his name just now.”

  Viera pulled back, searching Inella’s face as her throat tightened in dismay. She knew more than anyone what it felt like to have a lover scream someone else’s name. “I’m sorry, my dear.”

  Inella smiled, and Viera could find no trace of hurt or sadness in it. “It’s all right, Viera. This whole thing is supposed to be about you and him, remember?”

  “You’re not angry?”

  Inella hugged her close, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “You and Aru gave me back my life. Tonight you gave me something just as wonderful, in its way. I will always love you both for that. I just hope I have given you something in return.”

  Viera felt tears prickle the back of her nose. “Oh, my dear. No man has ever pleased me better.” Nor likely ever will.

  Inella chuckled. “I could say the same.”

  Viera reached up and stroked the hair back from Inella’s face, feeling something warm and tender blossoming in her breast. “Will you stay one more night?”

  One corner of Inella’s mouth quirked up. “Only if you promise to kiss me as you did tonight.”

  Viera pressed a quick kiss to Inella’s lips and hugged her close, her mind already running through all the things she wanted to do tomorrow night. “I’ll do more than that, I promise.”

  They fell asleep like that, entwined in each other’s arms.

  Aru stood on the landing, aching. Viera’s door might be shut tight, but that hadn’t kept him from watching what they did. Except that now he felt the same smear of dirt on his conscience that he felt when he spied on the whores in the alley from his bedroom window. The guilty stain of the true voyeur. Inella and Viera had come to his room and included him in their earlier games, but this—this
was not meant for his eyes. What had transpired behind this door was between the two women, and he was not invited.

  Still, even hating himself for it, he had watched.

  His eyes closed, his hands pressed to the smooth oak of the door, he had seen them clear as day, their spectral forms like a coalescence of light and color against the blank empty backdrop of the half-world. He had watched them kiss and press against each other, watched as Inella’s mouth fastened onto Viera’s breasts, watched as her fingers plunged in and out of Viera’s cunt, the place where she burned brightest. He had watched that place flare and explode in a conflagration that would have blinded mortal eyes as her soul arced upward in her moment of crisis. And as he watched it, as he heard his name tear itself from her lips, even with both his hands pressed to the door, he had come, his seed spilling forth against the carved wood to drip onto the floor.

  He had envied Inella earlier that night as she lay writhing beside Viera on his bed. Envied every touch of Viera’s hands and lips and tongue on the woman’s flesh, and wished himself there in Inella’s place. But now, oh, now it was worse. Worse to watch Inella’s hands and lips and tongue travel to all the places he would have his own. Worse to see Viera writhe and scream and come under the touch of one who was not him. To know that even though she cried his name, she did so under someone else’s fondling, that was true envy.

  But it was not the worst. Not by half.

  Worst was to see them collapse soothed and sated in a weary embrace, to witness the lazy, affectionate caresses, hear their muffled voices tenderly whispering as they held each other. To see the closeness they shared in that quiet, vulnerable space of time after lovemaking, and to know it was not for him, and never would be.

  What he felt observing them through the door as they fell asleep pressed tight together was not envy. It was different, harder, brighter, more painful. It stabbed at his heart, twisted in his gut, clenched like a strangling hand around his throat.