Healer's Touch by Kirsten Saell

her cunt. And even as shame and regret assailed him, he knew he would do this again, over and over. She was a sickness in him now.
    She left as quietly as she had arrived, her naked length gleaming in the candle’s glow, her robe whispering across the floor where it trailed from her hand. His throat closed and he almost wept—relief and loss intertwined.
    When he finally reached for his blanket, his hand encountered the cool smoothness of the ivory member. She’d left it behind.
    With great care, he took it in his hand. Lifted it to his face and breathed in deep through his nostrils. Gods, her scent. Gooseflesh rose all across his skin as a host of carnal images danced before his mind’s eye. Men and women, their limbs a tangle of quivering pleasure, pressed one so close upon another it was impossible to tell where one body ended and the next began. Feminine lips stretched around turgid male flesh, hard, masculine hands roaming across a soft, blushing landscape of breast and belly. A glistening cunt speared by fingers, tongue, member, and all manner of objects, the more commonplace, the more indescribably erotic. And for a moment—no more than that—an image of himself on hands and knees, and of Viera rising up behind him, sliding the carved shaft he still held in his hands deep inside him, in that place which now held such dark and brooding fascination for him.
    His eyes flew open to find his fingers tightly gripping the horn. As if he held a talisman of singular evil, he set it quickly down on the shelf of his nightstand. It lay there like a threat of damnation.
    Paldir have mercy, what was happening to him?

Chapter Five
    â€œHow are you feeling?” Viera asked Inella over a cup of herbal tisane the next afternoon.
    Inella blushed and hid behind her cup, but not before Viera saw the hint of a smile. “Good as new. Better than new.”
    â€œIt wasn’t too scary?”
    Inella’s smile spread. “It was scary. But then it wasn’t anymore. I can’t believe…even after four years of marriage, and the…the things I have done since, I had no idea how…” Her face went redder than ever, and she shook her head at herself. “When you assist him…?”
    Viera nodded. “It’s the same.”
    Inella’s eyes widened. “When he…when he heals a man?”
    â€œOh, yes. His talent does not discriminate.”
    The other woman sipped thoughtfully, her brows drawn.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, my dear?” Viera asked.
    Inella shrugged, but her face betrayed her anxiety. “I just wonder, was it just that once? With him? I mean, will I still be able to…?”
    Poor thing. She had only just discovered the joys of sexual release, and she had no idea whether she could experience them without Aru’s influence.
    Viera reached over and squeezed her hand. “Of course you will. I’m sure of it.” She rose and refilled their cups, glancing out the kitchen window to where the two children played in the courtyard. They’d be leaving soon, all of them. Viera had found them an apartment this morning—not a house, mind you, but with plenty of room for four people. Mai and the children would begin moving in this afternoon, and as soon as Inella found decent employment, they would be gone for good, getting on with their lives.
    â€œInella, can I ask you something?”
    â€œHmm?”
    â€œI want to hire someone for a night.” She turned to study the other woman. “For sex. I…am aware of how you have made your living since your husband disappeared. I thought maybe you might know someone.”
    Inella reddened once more, but beneath her flush, Viera could detect a hint of green. “I…”
    â€œOh, my dear! I’m an idiot!” Viera cried, hurrying back to her chair and taking the woman’s hand in hers. “Please don’t be embarrassed. I’m the last person in the