Healer's Touch by Kirsten Saell Page B

married, and so he can’t hold her to her pledge. He’s not so generous with himself.”
    Inella set her cup down. “But that’s awful!”
    â€œYes it is.”
    Inella took a long sip of her tea, toying with the end of her thick, blonde braid. “So why do you need to hire someone?”
    Viera leaned forward, checking the door to ensure Aru was not standing there. He was supposed to be out on a call, but he could move in utter silence when he wished. The last thing she needed was for him to come home early and catch her plotting. “For the last two nights,” she whispered, “Aru and I have…” Have what? Masturbated in front of one another? As technically accurate as that description might be, it lacked a certain nuance of emotion. With a frown, she began again. “Night before last, he came into my room. He watched while I…” She could feel her face fill with heat, but the other woman’s eyes remained free of moral outrage. “We did everything a man and a woman can do without actually touching each other.”
    She searched Inella’s face for some sign of revulsion or disdain, but there was none to be seen. “Last night, I came to his room. I brought a toy, an ivory member, and I…used it on myself while he watched. I could feel how much he wanted me, but still, he would not touch me. He’s still loyal to his wife.” She shook her head at the sheer stubbornness of the man. “I can’t win him that way. Not with my own hands. He’ll always be able to resist. But then I thought, maybe if I had someone else there to touch me? Maybe if the hands on my body were not my own, maybe if he could see my hands on someone else’s body, maybe then he wouldn’t be able to remain so aloof. And maybe if I showed him what he’s missing in withholding himself—not just the sex, but the holding and cuddling and sleeping in someone’s arms—maybe he would want it enough to finally set his wife aside.”
    Inella sighed and shook her head. “I wish I could help you, but I don’t know any men in…the business.”
    â€œI don’t want to hire a man.” At Inella’s frown, she explained, trying to ignore the flush she could feel creeping up her cheeks. “There’s a line between envy and jealousy. I want him to covet what he can’t have, not fly into a possessive rage. He’d see a man as a rival and god knows what he’d do. What I need is a woman who would be willing to…to make love with me. In front of him. A woman who would be able to find pleasure in it, and in lying asleep in my arms. I want him to see the closeness that can happen between two people when they are permitted to touch one another, but not in a way that might make him feel I’ve betrayed him.”
    â€œI’ll do it,” Inella said softly.
    Viera stared, feeling her face get even hotter. “Oh, I couldn’t ask you, my dear! I would never forgive myself if I pushed you to do such a thing out of gratitude or some sense of obligation. Aru charges no fee, and I cannot in good conscience ask you to… No, Inella. I only brought it up because I thought you might be able to suggest someone.”
    Inella’s chin lifted. “I just did.”
    â€œInella—”
    â€œViera, please. I am grateful for all you’ve done for me, but this isn’t about gratitude. I want to do this. I want to know if I can feel…like I felt yesterday. I had a regular customer last year, an old man who often paid me and another woman to perform for him. I learned to pretend to enjoy what we did. Now I want to see if I can just enjoy it, and forget about the pretending. I feel close to you. And to Aru. I feel safe here in a way I haven’t since Ned went away. Please, let me do this. Not just for you. For me too.”
    Viera stared into Inella’s deep, green eyes and saw nothing but