TheHealers

by Lynsie Buchanan

  “Dr. Carnegie,” I started.

  “Please call me Nicholas, Layna.” Such a kind man, but, to be honest, he was the man that went up my skirt once a year, so there was no way I would call him Nicholas.

  “I need to check on Cameron. Thank’s for allowing us to come up, even with concentrated efforts of others to keep me out.” I started to stand and although I thought I hid my fatigue it must have been apparent because Nicholas spoke.

  “Layna, why don’t you rest for a bit? I can get you something to drink and you’ll probably feel better. You look as though you need calories. Did you eat today?” Those concerned eyes waited on me.

  “I really need to get to something, but I appreciate the concern and all of your help.” This time I stood and left him sitting on the chair. Some thoughts started to form in my mind and I had questions. First things first though, check on Cameron.

  I gently opened the door, even though it wasn’t a private room. I knew for a fact that no one else had been in the room. I had watched outside of it. I could hear her soft voice as I entered. It took me a moment to realize, but when I did it was so pure. She was whispering to her tiny unborn baby. The sharp twinges of tears threatened to spill over, but I took a deep breath and stepped in further.

  “I hear you and the baby are going to be just great. Did you like Dr. Carnegie?” I thought if I filled the conversation with small talk it would hide the conversation we still had not had. And could not have.

  “He was very kind. I’m so grateful,” Cameron started but could not finish her sentence because her face was overcome with tears. At least they were tears of joy this time.

  “Shh. Everything is okay now.” I mumbled the words as I took her in my arms and petted those bouncy curls.

  My heart pounded with all the love I felt for Cameron and the baby right now. But there was still a hunger and loss of energy on the cusp. I felt like I would pass out soon. I remembered what Dr. Carnegie said about food and realized I had not had anything to eat and that was probably it.

  I stepped back but continued to keep my hand on Cameron’s.

  “You must be starved after all this. Why don’t I hunt up some food?” The smile pasted on my face right now must have been at least semi believable because Cameron erupted into giggles.

  “That is the worst fake smile I have ever seen on you. And I think I’ve seen some good ones before. Remember when we ran into one of your patients at that bar? That was almost as good as this one.” There was silence in the room and then she continued. ”You’re not ready to talk to me. It’s better for now, because I’m not really ready for anything else life altering. But, I will be. If you need me, I’m here. Go take care of whatever you need to do. I already talked to Jeff and he’s on his way.” She smacked a kiss on my hand and then she whispered again, “Thank you.”

  I leaned over to hug her and then walked out of the door. I listened to hear it close behind me before I started towards the elevator. Thank goodness, I didn’t see any sign of Nicholas. There were no words for him yet.

  As I pressed the unlock button in the parking lot, energy loss consumed me. This time it was worse. My mind seemed to lose coherence for a moment. It snapped back in place, but I could barely walk. Good thing I had driven. I needed to get home.

  Focusing on driving the car was almost more than I could handle. A few times I heard vibrations come out of my purse, but there was no way I was going to be able to get to them. The thoughts in my head fought hard to keep my body together. I turned the car off of the main road and onto a smaller side road that would eventually get me home. The lush green of the trees on either side kept me from skating off of the road. The vibrations sounded out of my phone again.

  “Shit. I cannot get to the phone right now!” The words came out of my mouth to echo through the car at no one but me. A quick swerve to the right and I entered my neighborhood. I would probably just get in the house before I passed out. The exhaustion was taking over. I barely tumbled out of the car and fell onto my driveway before everything went black.

  Chapter Twelve

  Clean waterfalls and rugged mountains mixed with lots of man. I must be dreaming that I’ve been abducted by Alexander. My arms started to wrap around him when my mind snapped into place. I was really going to have to stop waking up like this. My body did notice, however, that I felt like my batteries had been charged up.

  “It’s alright,” he whispered in my ear. “You need this touch, my energy feeds you.”

  Whoa…Hold on a second, maybe I was dreaming this crap?

  I pushed back from him and started to open my mouth but words just would not form. Instead, I decided to take in the scenery. We were in his house. Sunshine still glowed through the windows, so I had not blacked out for too long. Shades of gray stretched out over all of the walls visible to me. You would have thought it would induce depression, but brightness emanated through the gray. It occurred to me that I had not been in this house before, so it most likely looked this way when he bought it. I hadn’t seen any evidence of a painter since he had moved in. Focus, Layna. I knew I was diverting my mind to other topics to avoid thoughts about the feeding me crap that had just escaped his lips.

  “Does that line work on other females? Maybe, just the uneducated ones. Let me assure you that I have no need for anything your body wants to feed me.” There, I had been real clear. I wasn’t going to be some hopeless needy girl. It did come to my attention that I was still curled up in his lap. Damn it.

  “I know this all seems confusing, but I’m here for you. To protect you.” His face looked at me filled with both worry and calm. “I know about the magic, Layna.”

  “Huh.” That was the most intelligible thing I could think to say. Considering how delusional I had been when I passed out, it was extremely likely that my mind was still in that unconscious state. His warm strong hands found their way to my shoulders. The heat in them was enough to make my heart start to beat in an erratic pattern. Oh! Did he know I felt this way? Then he began to wrap one hand around the sensitive part of my neck just under my hair. Sensations quietly rushed over my skin. This wasn’t real. Unfortunately, the painful ache in my breasts indicated they thought that it was. They begged to be let out. Maybe I would just press myself on him a little and they would calm.

  No!

  I pushed myself right out of his arms and onto the other side of the sofa. This wasn’t real. “What in the hell are you talking about?” My eyes continued to check around me for the snakes. They always appeared in my nightmares. If I could find the snakes, then I would know for sure this was the horror workings of my polluted head. I’d always known there were side effects to my job. I guess I was starting to break apart early. His body languidly scooted closer to me. I didn’t jump off of the couch. It just felt too good for me to run from him.

  Alexander whispered, “I’m here to take care of you. Just let me.”

  Now why on earth did he have to go off and sound reasonable? I was all kinds of ready to begin to argue, but how do you argue with that? I knew I should be scared. I never spoke to anyone about healing, the magic, but nothing in my senses would allow me to fear him. Although, I sure as hell would not meet in the middle right now. He was going to have to come all the way over

  And he did.

  My arms were wrapped around his waist and my fingers gingerly moved on his back. The soft silk strands in his head rubbed all over my cheek as he tucked his face just next to mine. The only thing that kept me upright was the arm of the sofa at my back. Every so often his fingers would slide across my shoulders. Even through my clothes I could feel the rough demand in them. And it made me want more. It was such an indulgent caress that my mouth opened in a soft moan when he did it. Oh, yeah. He fed me alright, but on more than just one level. With his body so close to me, I was unable to form coherent thoughts in my head. Which was why, I guess, my hands uncurled themselves from around his waist to indulge in his hair. His sexy hair. An erotic sound escaped from betw
een his lips. With one hand still in his hair, stroking up and down, I brought my other hand to his lips, the place of that sound I had just heard. It was such a reflex. No thought. I slid my fingers across his lips. They were like fire, burning. And when I touched them, I felt the fire too. It burned me up from the inside out. How could I ever contain this? Or how would I ever get enough?

  I felt it the moment my energy was restored, but I still didn’t want to let go.

  “How is this possible? Why am I able to feel better when we touch?” The questions filled up in my head. I would not ask about the attraction I felt because I was pretty sure I understood that, but I wondered how he made me feel less depleted—like I had been when I first stumbled out of the car between our two houses. I had been so lucky he had found me.

  His soft lips touched lightly over my ears and spoke, “We are the same. I know what you can do. There are others like us. Many more.”

  I tried to stop my next words, but it was hopeless. “Is that what you did with the woman that was here earlier?” I sounded like a jealous girlfriend. I buried my face in his neck to hide the color in my cheeks. Oh help me, his smell weakened any defenses I had. I backed up to get some perspective. Maybe, a little too quickly.

  With a soft happy look on his face he asked, “Do you care who she was?” Alexander’s hands were now tightly glued to my hips. There was possessiveness in that gesture that almost brought me down against my will. I would not give in that easily.

  Now what was I supposed to say to that? I might be obsessed with you…take me now!

  I want to be your love slave…

  Instead I smirked as I made direct contact with those pieces of dravite in his face.

  “Of course you would think that. However, I’m genuinely curious. You just told me that there are people in the world like me. You said we’re the same. I just wondered if you provide this kind of service for all the other women like me.” As soon as I finished, I immediately regretted my words. How could I even cheapen this connection I had right now? Just as quickly, my mind recoiled upon realizing I did not believe in this kind of attraction. There was no such thing. Everything was about choices. People made choices about being with one another. There was no magic string that drew them together. I did not believe in soul mates. So why did I feel like this man that held me was privy to the contents of my soul?

  A hurt look crossed over his features and he brushed his fingers across my cheek as he spoke, “This is not what I was doing with her, but yes, she is one of us.”

  My response was twofold. One, on a very deep subconscious level I was excited they weren’t doing this. Two, I belonged to a group. I was a part of us. Now, I just needed to learn about us.

  Alexander stood up and guided me to my feet. He gently tugged at my fingers until I was standing before him. He brought my body against his in an embrace. As I pulled back I saw a painful look in his face.

  “I’m going next door to your house to get your things so you can stay here tonight.”

  I started to protest, but he cut me off.

  “There is no way I’m going to let you stay in that house. You have no idea yet what’s going on.” The protectiveness in his stance dared me to argue.

  I remembered my bag in the car, Leo’s car.

  “Actually, I already have a bag packed in the car.”

  Those caramel eyes paused on me.

  “I had planned to stay at Leo’s tonight. Remember, you met him this morning.” As I remembered, my eyes found their way to Alexander’s lips. Oh, I could almost feel them on me again. Chills ran through me.

  “Are you cold?”

  His playful voice echoed in my ear. He was suddenly very close to me and his fingers grazed on my shoulders again. But this time his gaze was on my chest.

  Nice. I had, in my hazy mind, recalled putting on one of those flimsy t-shirt bras that provided no coverage against anything perky, or pointy, as the case may be.

  Then he spoke again, “You’re staying here tonight.” He leaned over and just barely touched lips to my neck.

  Alexander grabbed the car keys and was out the door. I stood for a moment and took a deep breath. It still took my breath away every time he touched me. The Earth shattered when the touch involved lips. Sigh. Before I could make a decision about whether or not to go in the kitchen or sit in the living room, he came back through the house.

  “Why don’t you get cleaned up while I fix some dinner? You can get out of those clothes now and relax.” I was in awe. He was gorgeous and could cook. Wait…did he just tell me to get out of my clothes?

  My brain started to process all the events and new information I had gotten today. “I have a lot of questions. I don’t think I can relax.”

  “Yes, you can. We can talk all you want at dinner.” He was not going to negotiate, and for some odd reason, I wasn’t going to argue anymore, for now.

  He walked me down a long hallway to the back of the house. Alexander had his arm around my waist to prod me and the other hand held my bag. Only in Texas could two people walk down a hallway side by side. Even hallways were bigger in the South. The house did not appear lived in yet at all. There were very few personal items anywhere. Just necessary things. The door was open at the end of the hallway and I could see we were going to the master bedroom. My feet stopped.

  “My bedroom has the bigger tub and I thought you would like to take a bath. Come on, I promise to leave you alone.” A small shadow of regret appeared across his face so swiftly that I might have missed it had I not been so attentive. It shifted into a playful smile. I followed him into the bathroom and was glad when I saw the tub. It was extravagant and called my name. I loved big whirlpool tubs and this one even had little jets to soothe as you soaked. The floor space in the bathroom was large enough to have a small party. Perfect. He opened a small little closet off to the side of the sink area to pull out a fluffy, white towel and put it on the counter.

  My eyes found his again and softly mumbled, “Thank you.”

  “I have something else for you, so don’t get undressed just yet, unless you want me to join you in the tub.” A tiny little crinkle formed on his cheeks and he disappeared.

  While he was gone, I became fascinated with the towel. It was incredible just to touch. I wondered what that would feel like on my skin. It was so silky, but still a towel. I brought it up to my neck just to feel. Then little tingles ran all over the length of my body as I realized this was his towel. Alexander’s body had touched this towel. Before I could change my mind, I brought the towel with me into the walk in closet that was built off of the bathroom. I turned on the light and shut the door. The shirt came off and so did the pants. There I was in his closet in merely a bra and panties—that matched, of course. However incoherent I was when I got dressed this morning, I always took pleasure in matching my intimates. As my eyes peered down I realized that I’d picked a red bra and thong. The thong wasn’t really a surprise, since most of my sets were thongs. It really bothered me to have panty lines. And of course, it felt sensual to be covered or not covered, as the case may be, in fabric so provocative. I began to wrap the towel over my skin and realized it wasn’t enough. Next, I removed the intimates. My hands pulled the towel around my skin again. This was much better. The clothes were folded neatly on the counter and I was sitting on the edge of the tub when Alexander walked in again.

  The tourmaline in his eyes went deeper the minute he looked at me. He almost dropped the glass of wine in his hand. He took all of me in and then he seemed to re focus and be able to speak.

  “Did you decide you wanted me to join you?” There was a ghost of a smirk on his face, but for the most part, he looked serious.

  “Yes…umm…no. I mean no.” I couldn’t even string together a decent response. This man made me lose all control.

  “You are very lucky my hands are full right now.” His eyes reflected the hunger in mine. I noticed he also had a plate of fruit and cheese with the wine.

  “I
thought this might keep you until dinner. I didn’t want you to pass out in the tub.” He set the plate and glass down on the edge by me. Then ever so softly, ran his lips across the top of my head.

  “Glykó mou.”

  I had no idea what the words meant, but I felt a caress when he said them.

  I surprised myself and consumed every bit of the food Alexander had brought for me to snack on. My body was beyond hungry, I realized. The glass of wine was suddenly my life support.

  I walked back into the kitchen with my comfy drawstring pajama bottoms and matching top. It was a long sleeve top, because the temperature dropped at night in the winter. My hair was still slightly damp from the bath and sticking to my neck. I was hungry and did not want to waste time with a blow dryer, even though I had seen the blow dryer in the bathroom. My body only had one request—more food.

  I came to a full stop in the kitchen as my hands tightly gripped the empty plate and wine glass. There he stood over the stove top. I could have sworn I had entered silently, but something in his body shifted to my presence and then his eyes were on me.

  “Hi.” Shyly averting his gaze, I looked down, but could feel his stare. I tried to convince myself that I wanted him to look away, but I didn’t. I decided to speak again to break the stare. “The snacks were great. I think they just teased the hunger.”

  “Good. I can’t have you pass out on me again. You might wake up in my bed next time.”

  He thought he was so funny. “What’s for dinner?” We needed a subject change fast or I might just crawl into his bed willingly.

  “I made some beef kebabs. It’s an old recipe of my Mom’s. I thought you might need some high calorie comfort food.” There he cooked, with a million dollar smile on his face. Oh yeah, this would be difficult. But, I refused to become putty in this man’s hands.

  “It smells delicious. Did your mom cook a lot?” I sat down at one of the place settings already on the kitchen table.