Chapter Three
A Month Later
Xolani
“Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.”
– Billy Crystal
Dr. Xolani Coleman sat in her chair next to the couch where her patient lay with his eyes closed.
His breathing sounded even and she knew he had finally fallen asleep.
The sounds of heavy rain falling onto the roof could be heard and she felt sure it was part of the reason her patient slept so peacefully.
God, she wished she could sleep like that and so quickly.
She made a few notes on her pad as she watched Mr. Carlo Menendez rest. It wasn’t as easy of a task as it should be.
How ridiculous was it that she was suffering the same fate as her patients.
Energy drinks and coffee had stopped helping her and there was no way she’d resort to taking pills.
She was exhibiting some of the same symptoms.
Hallucinations.
Sleep Deprivation.
Insomnia.
Hypersomnia.
Dima Valdez had to be a very convincing hallucination.
You name it and she had symptoms for it.
She knew a lot of it had to do with the fact that she’d got out of an abusive relationship five years ago.
That was when she first had the symptoms start.
Light at first, with being unable to sleep for a bit, and then not at all.
However, it didn’t explain why she was so sexually frustrated.
She had enough dealing with how Ricky treated her, not just when it came to sex, but in life. ..period.
“No, no, no,” she whimpered, her vision blurring with tears.
Her heart began to beat a bit faster as her hands dampened as the memory of her last time with the supposed love of her life. The man who’d always take care of her. He’d been such a liar.
“Rick, I’m home.” Xolani frowned as she received no answer.
Yet she knew he was home because his car was in the driveway.
She’d ran her hand along the hood, and it had still felt warm.
He hadn’t been home long. She had wanted to surprise him, having finished studying she’d been able to leave early.
After all, it was his birthday. She shut the front door and walked through the living room.
No sign of him. Maybe he was taking a nap.
The voice in her head emphatically screamed for her to turn around and leave. That she wouldn’t like what she was going to see. Just as she reached the bedroom door and pushed it open she heard it.
“Ohh, Rick!”
A female voice and then a long guttural moan. Not of someone hurt, but someone. A brunette someone. A woman she recognized from Ricky’s job. A woman he was currently screwing in her bed.
She continued staring at them, her body frozen in place. That was the moment Ricky leered back at her as he plowed in between the other woman’s thighs.
“Is this what it takes to get a frigid bitch like you turned on?
She turned to leave and was stopped cold by Ricky’s voice right behind her and his hand gripping her shoulder painfully.
“Oh no, you’re going to watch every bit of this.” Ricky turned her forcefully back towards the smirking woman on the bed and made her kneel right next to the mattress.
“Hey baby, why don’t we give her a first-class showing?”
The other woman laughed wickedly as she laid proudly in the bed that Xolani had bought and paid for.
“Keep your fucking eyes open!”
None of this made any sense. She didn’t need the complication of a man in her life.
Not now and not ever. The one thing she didn’t understand was why now and why this particular man.
Yes, he was handsome and what one would consider sexy.
But Ricky had been those things too and turned out to be Evil Incarnate.
Why was she dreaming about a man she’d seen only a handful of times in the past month? The one she dreamed about daily. It was beyond ridiculous. Most especially when she thought she hated a man’s touch.
Ricky had been her nightmare, but this new man was a dream.
She felt herself drifting along with each breath from her subject.
Setting her pen and pad in her lap, she took a deep breath.
Letting it out slowly while counting to ten, she waited.
When that didn’t work to give her a slight reprieve from tiredness there was only one thing left to do.
Coffee laced with a double shot of espresso.
She hastily reached over, grabbed her cup and took a sip.
She had to stay awake. Fortunately for her, coffee or some kind of caffeine did the trick.
She took another sip then set it back down.
The pleasant flavor of her favorite chicory coffee slid down her throat and she purred in pleasure. God, nothing had ever felt so good.
Well, that’s a lie. Sex feels good. Sex feels really good. At least when she pleasured herself.
She shook her head. Now was not the time or the place to be thinking like this.
God, she did not know what was wrong with her.
She had sex on the brain lately. She covered her mouth, so the small laugh was muffled and she wouldn’t disturb her client.
She had no hope of having any sexy times any time soon. Men had been off limits for a while.
Because you want one particular man. Dima Valdez. Or D as he liked to be called.
Ugh. She stood up, quickly knocking her pad and pen on the floor.
She swiftly glanced at Carlo. He still remained asleep.
With another shake of her head, she bent down to grab the pen and the pad.
Then she moved over to her desk. She’d give him a little bit more time to rest before she woke him.
He had been coming in every two weeks, so she could observe him.
Setting the pad and pen down, she opened Mr. Menendez’s folder to read it. Once more she felt her eyes getting a bit heavy. “No. No. No. Not now,” she whispered as she felt herself going under. God, not now!
Xolani.
Hearing her name whispered, she opened her eyes.
She still sat in her office, yet it didn’t look like her office.
She frowned as she stood from the desk. The scraping of her chair caught her attention, so she looked down at it, but it remained in the same position.
Her head felt foggy and with a groan she settled back down in the chair.
What is happening?
She had to be going crazy, seeing things and hearing things. Closing her eyes, she opened them again and shook her head. She wasn’t getting enough sleep, that had to be why. Then she heard it again, the low whisper that held her in its thrall, “Xolani.”
****
Dirge
Lust’s passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes. – Marquis de Sade
“Fall asleep,” he whispered. “Please just fall asleep.”
Dirge watched as Xolani fell under his spell and slipped into a light sleep.
He wouldn’t keep her under long, but he just needed to see her if only for a moment.
To feel her. To gather her energy as his own.
He stood in the shadows of her office just off to the side, watching her dark eyes close.
He should feel bad. What was happening was all because she continued to conjure images of him. He had no choice but to appear.
Once he knew she had fallen asleep, he moved as close as possible and sat the gilded card on her desk.
On the front of the card was the princess on several mattresses looking disgruntled from lack of sleep.
On the back of the card was the number to, ‘Club Fantasy where Once Upon a Dream Fantasies came true.’
I am here, lovely one. He could speak aloud but he preferred to talk to her subconscious mind, where he knew she would be more honest. She wanted him. She just fought it more when she was awake. He smiled as he heard the soft sigh escape her plump lips. Lips he wanted to bite, lick, and kiss.
She mumbled something unintelligible and turned her head to the side.
What’s that Xo? he whispered to her in her mind.
“Dima...” She said it ever so softly, but he heard her. “Please.”
She wanted him. Perhaps it was only the human side of him, but she wanted him just the same.
Dima Valdez. Not anyone else, but him. He felt a bit of warmness pass through his body and had to wonder for a moment what that was.
No. He’d think about it later. Much later.
This was the time to enjoy her and not get emotional.
Xolani gave a soft moan.
He groaned as the moan went straight to his hardening cock.
It pressed lightly against the pants he wore.
He closed his eyes and imagined her touching him.
They hadn’t had sex. Yet. But they would and when they did, he knew he’d enjoy every bit of it.
It would be explosive. He’d cherish and ravish her at the same time.
Thinking about me, baby? Need my cock in that tight pussy of yours?
Xolani moaned again as her hands unconsciously gripped her chair and her breathing sped up. She began rocking in the chair as she squeezed her luscious thighs together and orgasmed right on the spot.
Perfection... and all his doing.
All of this just from him talking to her. He hadn’t even touched her. Opening his eyes, he stared at her body.
Suddenly, her eyes opened.
He stared into her eyes for a moment before he came to his senses and lulled her back to sleep. Time for me to go, little one. But soon...soon we will enjoy each other.
“Mm more, please.”
Ah, his girl was insatiable. That would work in his favor. He had all but reeled her in. Soon, he would have more than just this moment. He would have all her moments. Up until he decided it was over. Then whatever this was would fade away and he’d return to normal.
“Another time...right now you have work to do.”
He melted back into the background staring into her beautiful caramel-colored eyes. He then took a deep breath, breathing in her scent before he disappeared. Dima was officially obsessed and he wasn’t going to be satisfied till he had her on his dick crying out his name.
****
Nothing ever happens unless first we dream. – Carl Sandburg
Xolani’s eyes fluttered open and she looked around while pressing her hand to her forehead.
Everything had been so vivid. His scent, his touch, his voice, his everything.
She’d been wrapped up in him. Ever since he’d come into the cafe, her life had not been the same.
Every time she was in his presence reality blurred.
All she wanted was him. The real him from the coffee shop and the dream of him from her imagination.
Shit.
How long had she been out? She sat up quickly in her chair and the fact that her client was still snoring away on the couch gave her some pause to realize she hadn’t been out that long.
The lucid dreams had to stop. She had to find a way to end them.
Her obsession over Dima Valdez was getting out of hand.
She glanced at her watch, not much time had passed at all.
What sorcery was happening here to make her think it had been a long time when it hadn’t?
The alarm on her desk went off, saving her from thinking about the overly confident and shamelessly selfish Dima Valdez as her client’s eyes opened and she moved over to focus on him. “Mr. Menendez, I do hope your rest was relaxing?” She smiled over at him.
He rubbed his eyes and replied, “Thank you, Dr. Coleman. Yes, I had the strangest dreams.” He stroked his fingers along his thick graying mustache.
“Tell me about them,” she urged. “We have about another forty-five minutes, so I am all yours.” She settled into a chair right next to the couch.
Mr. Menendez sat up and began to tell her his dreams.
Forty-five minutes later, she ushered her client out and headed back to her desk. That was when she noticed the gilded card sitting in the middle of her desk. A card that hadn’t been there before, or had it? She was going nuts. Picking up the card, she stared at it.
What in the actual fuck?