CarnalHealing (5 page)

Disappointment stabbed Leonore. “But we weren’t finished.
You didn’t get to…you know.” She was surprised that she cared, but she did.

“As much as I’d like to have a turn,” he said, “I wasn’t
kidding when I said I was in the middle of my shift. It’s a miracle I’ve gone
this long without being paged, and one of the other residents could come back
to the office any minute.”

“But you didn’t get to…” Leonore trailed off. Since when did
she care about a man’s orgasm? Her magic purred contentedly inside her, fully
recharged and needing no further replenishment.

And yet she was disappointed she wasn’t going to get more of
that glorious cock.

“I’ll take a rain check. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky
after our date.”

Chapter Four

As Leonore made her way to the parking garage, she had the
ridiculous sensation that everyone was watching her, and they were all smirking
because they knew exactly what she’d been doing. God, am I actually
blushing
?
She slipped into the driver’s seat and adjusted the rearview mirror and took a
look at her face.

Mascara was
not
streaking down her face and lipstick
was
not
smeared everywhere. Her hair was in no more disarray than usual.
So why did she look like she’d just had sex?

Because she was practically glowing.

It’s the magic
, she told herself.
It’s because
I’ve renewed twice in less than twenty-four hours.
And the healing had been
especially wonderful today. She’d felt so connected with that little girl, so
satisfied at feeling the last of the cancer wiped out.
No one is looking at
you. Just drive on home.

But someone
was
staring at her, she realized. A
dark-haired man was walking by the car, toward the elevator from which she’d
just come. He broke eye contact when she noticed him, but glanced back after
punching the down button. Again, he looked away, then stood with his back
partially to Leonore.

Something about the man made her uncomfortable. She wanted
to study him, but she also didn’t want him to see her doing it. She put the key
in the ignition and turned it, then looked over her shoulder before backing out
of her space. As she put the transmission into drive, she glanced back at the
man, who was still waiting for his elevator to arrive.

He was staring at her again, and his expression gave her a
sensation so unpleasant that it almost dampened the glow of her sexual
contentment.
Like the man Millie was talking about.
Leonore put her foot
on the gas and pulled around the ramp and out of his line of sight. This time
the gooseflesh on her arms had nothing to do with pleasure.

* * * * *

“I don’t even have to ask if you got laid, girl,” said Tish.
“You look fabulous. I think your hair even got curlier.”

Letisha often stopped by Leonore’s south side row house on
her way home from a shift, if the lights were on. It wasn’t very far out of her
way.

“I told you I was going to,” Leonore said, handing her
friend a beer. “Don’t act surprised.”

“It’s not that you had sex that surprises me. I’m not
kidding, Leonore, you really look different. You’re…” She seemed to search for
a word. “Luminous. Like they say about pregnant women sometimes, that they’re
glowing.” She grinned, her teeth very white in her dark face. “You aren’t, are
you?

“Aren’t what?” Leonore took a sip of her own beer.

“Pregnant.”

Leonore laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Tish. You know
perfectly well Leonoreans can’t get pregnant by anyone but their one true
partner.”

“Yeah, I know the rules. But you do look good.” Tish
stretched “Man, it was a long day. And I had to climb a fence to catch this
stupid kid. Damn crackheads, think they can outrun me.”

“You love every minute of it,” said Leonore. “Don’t even try
to convince me otherwise.”

“I truly do,” acknowledged Tish. “By the way, I spoke to
Lupita.”

“I didn’t know Petey was back from Mexico.”

“She just got back last night. She’s all fired up about the
equinox. Brought crystals back from some mine down there, claims the Mayans
used them to keep malicious elements from disrupting ceremonies. Some kind of
protection thing.”

Leonore frowned. “I don’t want to deviate from the
established rituals, at least not at the equinox. We can try them some other
time if she really wants to.”

“What I can’t figure out is why she’s worried about
‘malicious elements’ anyway. No one’s ever tried to mess with our magic. At
least not that we know of.”

“No.” Leonore thought about what Millie had said, about the
customer who had made her so uncomfortable.

“Something wrong?” asked Tish.

“No, not really.”

“Yes there is,” said Tish. “You’re forgetting who you’re
talking to.”

Leonore sighed. Letisha’s special power was the ability to
know when people were lying, and to compel them to be truthful. It came in
pretty handy when questioning suspects, a talent that had not hurt her career.

“It’s not anything concrete,” she said. “Millie had a
customer who spooked her. He didn’t say or do anything that threatened her, but
I could tell she was shook up and a little scared. She’ll have to describe it
to you herself.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes,” said Leonore, then, when Tish raised an eyebrow, she
went on. “Well, there was a man watching me today. He gave me the creeps.
Probably nothing.”

Tish’s gaze sharpened. “Where was this?”

“At Mass General Children’s,” Leonore admitted. No point
trying to hide anything from Tish, once she got on the scent. “In the parking
garage.”

“You did a healing today?” Tish’s tone showed surprise. “But
that usually takes a lot out of you. And your power is obviously not depleted.”

Lenore felt her face flush. If she was with any of her other
Leonorean sisters, she could have kept part of the story to herself. But
Letisha-the-human-lie-detector would get every detail out of her, one way or
the other. She may as well come clean.

“I had sex again, right after the healing.”

“At the
hospital
?” Tish practically shrieked.

“With one of the doctors,” Leonore said, her cheeks now
burning. “The same guy as last night.”

“Oo-whee! I can’t wait to tell the sisters you actually had
sex with the same guy twice. Who are you, and what have you done with Leonore?”
Tish’s grin practically split her face in half.

“There’s more,” added Leonore stoically. She may as well get
this over with—Tish would find out anyway. “I’m having dinner with him
tomorrow. He’s cooking for me at his place.”

Letisha choked on her beer.

* * * * *

“What kind of things do you write?” asked Jeff, stirring
something in a big pot. Leonore was seated on a barstool with a glass of wine,
able to watch but not close enough to get in the way. Jeff had firmly refused
to allow her to help him prepare dinner, which was just as well. Leonore was
admittedly a terrible cook.

“Stories for magazines, mostly.” She sipped the wine, which
was excellent. “I’ve written a novel, but haven’t sold it yet.”

“So, you’re a journalist.” He covered the pan he was
concentrating on, then lifted the lid from another. A savory aroma filled the
kitchen, causing Leonore to salivate.

“Sometimes,” she said. “And, like every other writer I know,
I’m working on a novel. But mostly I write essays or short stories.”

“And you make a living at that?”

Leonore hesitated. The truth was, she wrote because she
loved to. She had a trust fund that was more than sufficient for her modest
lifestyle, but she’d never told a man about it.

“I get by,” was all she said. She changed the subject. “That
smells incredible. What is it?”

“Linguini Fra Diavolo.” He grinned. “You said you like
seafood, and it’s a family recipe. I’m a quarter Italian. My grandma made sure
I knew how to make a decent sauce before I left home. I love to cook—it’s in
the genes. But I don’t have much time to do it on a resident’s schedule.”

Leonore just nodded, content to watch him work. She admired
the efficiency of his movements as he first tossed the salad, then pulled some
bread from the oven where it had been warming. The table had already been set
when she arrived and he waved her away when she tried to carry the salad bowl
to the dining nook near a bay window.

She’d been right when she speculated that his home wouldn’t
feel anonymous. Although it had none of the clutter that tended to accumulate
with long-term residence, neither did it have the bare walls or unpacked boxes
that would be understandable for someone new to the area. The prints on the
walls were well mounted, and there was an abstract sculpture, made of fused
bronze, marble and glass, that bespoke obvious quality.

“Soup’s on,” said Jeff, carrying a large platter to the
table. He’d spread the linguini out and covered it with an enormous pile of
mixed seafood—she could see shrimp, calamari, clams in their shells and
scallops—all covered by a red sauce.

“How much do you think I can eat?” She seated herself. “This
is way too much food for just the two of us.”

“Italian food is even better heated over,” he said. “Play
your cards right and you’ll even get a doggie bag to take home with you.”

This was nice. Leonore couldn’t remember when she last had a
relaxed evening like this with anyone other than one of her sisters. Had she
ever?

But there was an undercurrent to this evening that had
certainly never existed between the Leonoreans, and it wasn’t just the
knowledge that the night would probably lead to sex. Leonore couldn’t quite put
her finger on it, but it had something to do with her magic. It was usually
quite simple for her to quiet it when she wasn’t using it, but it was restless
around this man. Lake a caged animal, long accustomed to the bounds of its
confinement, suddenly testing the bars of its enclosure.

Jeff hummed as he spooned pasta onto a plate for Leonore,
grinning.

“Are you always this cheerful?” she asked him.

“When I’m having dinner with a beautiful woman who I’ve
successfully lured into my apartment? Absolutely.” He put down the platter and
handed her a bread basket. “Also, I had an excellent day at work. I got back
some test results for a patient I’ve been having a particularly hard time with,
and they were just amazing. In fact, they showed so much improvement I was
afraid there was some kind of mistake, and I had them run a second time. Same
results.”

“That’s great.” Leonore hid a smile, remembering that Jeff
had told Lucy’s parents there would be tests yesterday afternoon, with results
available this morning. “I’ll bet it’s wonderful to be able to give good news
to a parent.”

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” he agreed, “but that’s
not the only reason this particular case was so important.”

“It wasn’t?” If she seemed a little too interested, he
didn’t notice.

“No. You see, I’m researching a new treatment and although
I’ve had some good results, this is by far the most dramatic case.”

An alarm bell, faint but distinctly discordant, struck
somewhere very far back in Leonore’s mind. “So Lu— I mean your patient was part
of some kind of test?”

“Yes. For a new combination of drugs and therapy that
haven’t been put together quite this way before. I’m trying to qualify for a
research grant, and this case may be the one that seals the deal.”

She put down her fork, her appetite suddenly gone. “I
thought grants were decided on the basis of hundreds of cases, if not
thousands.”

“Sometimes,” he agreed. “If we were talking about totally
new drugs or something, that would likely be the case. But this is a new course
of treatment using existing drugs. And it’s not a very big grant. I just have
to have enough information to convince a panel.” He took a sip of wine and
smiled brilliantly. “And with the results from this case to show them, my
chances just rose exponentially.”

But the results of this case don’t have anything to do
with the treatment.
Leonore almost spoke the words aloud.

The alarm bell was no longer distant. It was bonging away in
her brain with a volume that threatened to make her head explode. In all the
times she’d been healing sick kids, it had never occurred to Leonore there
might be a negative consequence.

Something must have shown on her face, because Jeff’s brow
creased in concern. “You’re not eating. Is the sauce too spicy?”

“What?” She looked at the plate of pasta, which had been so
appetizing only a moment before. She knew she couldn’t take another bite to
save her life. “The sauce is perfect. It’s just that I…I suddenly felt a little
faint.”

“But you’ve barely taken a bite.” He reached for Leonore’s
hand, but she moved it under the table.

“I’m sure it’s not the food,” Leonore hedged. She noticed
the glass of wine and clutched at it like a lifeline. She took a big swig,
swallowing most of the glass’s contents in a single gulp. Jeff’s eyebrows rose.
She stood up.

Jeff followed suit. “Do you want to lie down?”

Leonore shook her head firmly. “No. I’ll be all right. I
just think I had better go.”

Jeff was obviously dismayed. “But…you were fine a minute
ago. If you would just rest a minute…”

She felt a surge of annoyance, which was completely
unreasonable. It wasn’t his fault. As she looked around for her handbag, he
came around the table and put his hands on her hips.

“Whoa. I’m a doctor, remember? If you’re feeling unwell,
you’re better off here. With me.”

Leonore, about to flee, hesitated. She was torn—she wanted
to be alone to think about the implications of what she just learned. On the
other hand, she felt oddly calmed by his touch. And, as it had every previous
time he’d touched her, her magic rushed toward the point of contact, tingling
with anticipation.

“I-I think it’s passing.” She didn’t want him to start
treating her like a patient. “I’m fine now, really. I’m not sure what came over
me.”
Except for a tsunami of self-doubt about the one thing that’s always
made me feel good.
To prove she wasn’t lying, she sat back down, picked up
her fork and skewered a scallop, then put it into her mouth. It was delicious,
and her fear that she’d be unable to eat vanished.

“I do. You were enjoying yourself too much.” Jeff used a
fork to point at her, the playful tone of his words belying their seriousness.
“You were afraid you’d forget to be careful and actually tell me something
about yourself.”

“That’s not true,” Leonore protested. The reasons she
generally avoided anything beyond small talk had nothing to do with fear. It
just wasn’t necessary to know anything about the men she bedded.