Terran Times 18 - Emerald Envisage (41 page)

He kissed my nose. “Um, maybe in the dark, when you touch me in various places.”

“Let’s go home,” I said. “I’d like to put it to a test now.”

When we got out of my car, Rayon paused and looked up at the sky for a moment.

“Are you sad?” I asked, hugging his waist.

“Not for me,” he replied, those green eyes looking down at me. “I’m happy. I’ve found what I was looking for.” He glanced at me. “I’ve found love and sex all wrapped up into one. I feel sad for those who will never know that joy.”

I stayed silent, allowing him his thoughts.

“So,” he brightened suddenly, “what does a star prostitute do on your planet anyway? It looks like I’m permanently retired from my former job.”

We walked inside. I grinned at him, removing his coat and then undoing his shirt, I kissed his chest. “Well maybe I could get you a job at the travel bureau where I work. Do you know anything about booking luxury cruises?”

He paused in the middle of removing his shirt and gave me the most profound look of confusion I’d ever seen. I laughed until he reached for me, took me into his arms and smothered my laughter with his kiss.

A STONE’S THROW: EMMA

C.R. Moss

Emma stared at the old storefront trying not to cry. Her hand and arm gripped tighter around the crook of her best friend’s arm, not just to keep herself from bawling but also to keep her friend from fleeing. Addi didn’t want to be at the boutique with her. She realized that. But she dragged Addi along, needing the support of her friend when she came to the boutique that her dear, late friend, Miss Q, had owned. She was curious to see if the new owners had altered anything and hoped they were as privy to the energy in the establishment as Miss Q had been.

The sign over the door had been replaced. The new letters in
A Stone’s Throw
were bright and bold against the drab, paint-faded building. The displays in the window were gone, the shelves draped with black cloth. Nestled on the middle shelf was an eight by eleven, black and white portrait of Miss Q. She stood in the photo, prettily poised and showing off her long, salt and pepper hair, her multiple necklaces with charms and her dangle bracelets. Two other black and white photographs flanked hers.
Nephews
, Emma assumed. She remembered Miss Q mentioning them in many of her conversations. Both of the men, each handsome in his own respect, were eerily similar in appearance, save for the hair and eyes. Drawn to the light-haired, light-eyed one, she tilted her head as she studied the photo, wondering where she had seen him before. Closing her eyes to think better, an image of a clover-filled meadow came to mind and the sweet scent of honeysuckle floated past her nose.

Her eyelids flew open. The image and accompanying aroma were the same as the ones in the dreams she had been having since she had hit puberty. A shiver racked her body, recalling the earthy male presence always in attendance in the dreams, too, one whose fleeting ghost of an impression could get her heart pumping and loins stirring. She had tried in every dream to find him, to see what he looked like, but she was never able to. All she had to hold onto was a sense of him, his power, his omnipresent lusting. Many mornings she’d masturbate, imagining how her dream lover would appear to ease the dissatisfaction of waking up alone.

“Do you think they could be twins, Addi? Their resemblance is so close,” she said to her friend. She didn’t get an answer and that was all right. She had spoken more for her own benefit to snap back to reality and get grounded.

Addi was transfixed on the dark one’s photograph.

She tugged on her arm and her friend absentmindedly glanced and smiled at her.

Emma pulled her into the store and was pleased to see the inside and merchandise hadn’t changed a bit. Every item was still in its place exactly as Miss Q had put it.

“Addi,” she said releasing her friend from her grasp. “Go browse around and let the calming properties of the store envelope you. You’ll feel better if you do, you’ll see.”

Addi shrugged, mumbling about the store not being attended to, and headed over to a rack of scarves.

Emma inhaled deeply, letting her chest expand, and reached out with her mind and aura to embrace the store’s energy. She loved the metaphysical aspect of the boutique with the clothes and accessories on one side and the crystals on the other. She went to the rocks, wanting a bauble to ease her hurts. Not only had Miss Q left the earthly realm, her boyfriend, whom she had helped get back on his feet after a bad stretch of gambling, had dumped her.

Relaxing into her search, she let herself lazily scan the large selection. Within moments a rough, multihued green stone hooked her. She picked it up. The large stone, its edges slightly sharp, covered her whole palm and was comfortable in her hand. Holding the crystal brought a sudden wave of peace washing over her and a sensation of two arms wrapping around her and comforting her with a motherly love.

Oh, Miss Q
, she breathed with a whispered sigh, believing the old woman’s spirit was still in the store and soothing her in her grief. She missed her friend and wished the woman hadn’t gone on to another realm so she could have advised her on the stone she held.

The impression of the arms faded and she noticed a nagging pull on her back…and not on her clothes either. Luckily, along with the lectures on crystals, Miss Q had also taught her how to see and cleanse auras and how to fend off those who would feed on another’s life energy. Her hand wrapped around the stone as if to protect it and she put up an aura shield to stop the intrusive and unsolicited transference of her energy.

A deep snicker laughed behind her and a delightful tickle trickled down her spine as if the person whom the mirth belonged to was sensually trailing a finger down her naked back.

The dream presence
. But it couldn’t be. He only existed in her fantasies. She clutched the stone tighter.

“Here at
A Stone’s Throw
you’re only a stone’s throw away from obtaining your heart’s desire,” the deep, sultry male voice breathed in her ear.

She turned to reply, but the light-haired man from the picture was several feet away. For a second her mind attempted to wrap around how he could be next to her one moment and not the next, but she pushed the matter aside as she was drawn into and captivated by his light blue eyes. He appeared slightly older than she, but trendy with his dark blond hair cut in short layers and texturized with some kind of hair product to give it that metrosexual, messy look. The long sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up to above his elbows, revealing darker hair on his arms, and the bottom was tucked into a pair of form-fitting blue jeans. As he walked over to her, she had to tilt her head back since he was taller than her five six frame.

He smiled devilishly at her apparent attraction to him.

She dropped her head down. Her gaze fell upon his broad chest. The first couple buttons of his shirt were undone. She stared fixedly at the exposed skin and the gold chain and cross that perched there. Beads of moisture wet her panties. “Oh, hello,” she said shyly, breathless. The edges of the rock bit into her palm, bringing her out of the haze of her fascination with the man.

“Hello to you, too. I’m Joe. Have you found something you fancy?”

She wanted to say,
yeah
,
you
, but held her tongue and opened her palm to reveal the crystal.

He stepped forward and peered down at it. “Ah, I see you’ve found one of my favorite pieces. What you have there is a rough emerald.”

“It looks nothing like what you get at a jeweler’s,” she said quietly, cringing inwardly at how lame she sounded.

“That’s because when the stones reach those stores they’ve been cut, tumbled and polished. What you have in your hand is the gem in its primitive form. Would you like to know about it, umm…”

“Emma,” she replied, having realized he wanted to know her name. “And, yes please, I’d love to know about it.”

* * * *

Emma. So that’s her name now.
Joe quickly
took her measure. She almost looked the same as when he last saw her, fair of face and skin, eyes the color of the stone in her hand and hair the color of sunlit, dried pine needles on a forest’s floor. Her aura pulsed a healthy hue of green. She was a natural healer, just like in the old days and exactly what his tired soul needed after having waited many lifetimes to be with her again. And from how she blocked his feeding earlier, he realized she was trained in psychic energy. His heart sang with joy for her education would make what was to come
so
much easier.

He reached out and took the stone from her hand, making sure to contact her skin as he did so. Her forest green glow swirled up and caressed his fingers. A sense of calm and rest eased into his muscles. He sighed as he hefted the small rock. Her heat had warmed the stone nicely and the rock told him it wanted to be back in her possession. But he couldn’t give the rock back. Not yet. “The emerald,” he stated as he pocketed the gem, watching her eyes follow the movement and grow sad. “It’s said to be the sacred stone of the goddess Venus. There are claims it preserves love and is a symbol of hope. It’s a stone of great harmony, love and wisdom and is supposed to help ease a troubled mind.”

“That explains why I was drawn to it then. Could I have it back?”

“I sense you have a green thumb,” he said in reply.

“Excuse me?” she questioned, still staring at the pocket where the emerald lay.

“Green thumb. You know, good with plants. I’m getting that impression about you.”

She looked up to his face, appearing to finally register what he had said, and smiled brightly. “You’re right. I do seem to have a knack with gardening. People tell me it seems all I have to do is touch a plant, say a word and it grows like magic.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Why?”

“I have a sick plant in the back. It’d be great if you could take a look at it and tell me what it needs. If you do me this favor, you can have the emerald.”

* * * *

Emma thought about the stone in his pocket and gave him another once over.
He seems decent enough
. Plus, Addi was in the store so if something weird were to happen she could always scream for help and be heard. His turquoise aura slowly waved and shifted. She didn’t sense any ominous intentions from him. There probably wouldn’t be any problems. “Sure,” she ultimately agreed. “I’m not reading anything threatening from you. Let’s go take a look at your sick plant.”

He took the lead to show her the way.

Mmmm
, she mused, watching his tight ass sway in his jeans as he walked in front of her.
Nice butt
. She was definitely putting this guy in her spank bank and would use him the next time she woke from one of her dreams and needed relief. He opened a door, motioned for her to enter and she stepped into a storeroom.

The sick plant, a sad little umbrella tree, sat in the corner. She headed toward it and, behind her, Joe shut the door. Thrown into complete darkness, she hid her face in her hands and cursed herself for getting into a dangerous situation. A cold shudder of fear stressed her body and, as her panic mounted, a gust of wind blew over her and ruffled her hair.

On the next breeze came the fragrance of flowers and honeysuckle.

A hand gently gripped her shoulder.

“Open your eyes,” Joe suggested calm and soft.

Slowly, she opened her eyes as he requested. She stood with him at the edge of a trail, which emerged from a dense forest out into a lush green, rolling meadow. Overhead a flock of birds took flight from the trees into the bright blue, cloudless sky and a buck grazing on some grass up on a hill lifted his head. “I must be dreaming,” she said in wonderment, the scene before her a far cry from the dry, dusty, tan dirt bowl she lived in.

“I’m afraid to disappoint you, my dear,” he commented smoothly, affectionately. “But you’re not.”

“Really?” she asked with child-like enthusiasm.

“Really,” he answered as a serious adult would.

Ecstatic to be in her dream world, she tossed off her shoes and ran through the meadow. As she neared the crest of the hill, the buck bounded off. She threw her arms straight out to her sides and spun in circle.

* * * *

Joe followed her up the hillside. Her head was thrown back, she was laughing and he enjoyed the sight of seeing his love being so carefree, so happy…so alive. He never should have left her that day, all those years ago, to wander in the woods alone. As an apprentice, she should have known better than to have tried a new berry without the guidance of her herbalist and alchemist masters. But eager to advance her healing skills, she went off, picked a poisonous cohosh and popped it in her mouth. By the time she had been found, the poison had gone deep into her system and there was nothing he or his healers could do. His brother could have saved her, but then she would have been indebted to Edom and that would not have been good. Joe had loved Betha with all his heart and wouldn’t have been able to stand seeing her with another man, especially his brother. Now his Betha was back as Emma and he was never going to let her go. “So, my dear, do you like it here?” he asked.