His Every Desire
Tracy groaned with approval, so he continued.
"When is your appointment with Gordon?"
"Tomorrow morning," she sighed.
"Are you nervous?"
She closed her eyes and let her head sink forward with a quiet, "Mmhmm."
By then, the hard rubbing had turned her into putty in his hands. With every powerful sweep that he made, Tracy’s head would bob up and down. As the massaging continued, she could feel some of the tension starting to melt away, though an overwhelming urge to sleep quickly took its place.
Even though the visions had stopped, her dreams, which were filled to the brim with fantastic nonsense and awful monsters that were seldom seen, made every night both fitful and restless.
After several minutes, Mr. Hayes leaned over and said softly into her ear, "I’m going to go get you some water."
Fortunately, the former owner of the building had left a few things behind as part of the deal, including a brand-new ice machine near the walk-in cooler. Mr. Hayes grabbed a couple of plastic cups and filled both with ice, adding water to just one.
Back in the dining room, Tracy hadn’t moved, still partially slumped over in her seat. Mr. Hayes held both cups carefully with one arm and used his free hand to snap off the light switches. Like a candle being blown out, the room dropped into an impressive darkness. The only light was from the kitchen, and the little slivers of window where the paper covering it didn’t quite reach. It wasn’t much, though, and cast little slashes of light all over.
"Here," he said, handing Tracy the water cup."Thanks."
"Sure."
He set the other cup on the table and pulled out a couple of disc-shaped ice cubes.
"Lean your head back."
A hint of a demanding tone crept into his voice.
Tracy raised an eyebrow, but nothing else. "Why?"
Mr. Hayes wrapped his free hand around her chin and guided her face upwards.
"Because I’m trying to help."
Tracy wanted to fight. She knew that, in a way, she needed to fight. She also knew that she didn’t have very much fight left in her at that moment. Though her eyes
were still closed, little, quick flashes of white and green speckled her vision. The spots would flash and dance in almost imperceptible quivers before disappearing completely.
Then there was the matter of the pain. Like a buzzing chainsaw had just passed through, a horrible ripping sensation raced from Tracy’s eyebrow, near her scar, all the way to the base of her skull, where it then pooled and radiated out through the rest of her body. It didn’t feel like a normal headache. At least, not like any headache that Tracy had ever experienced. In the end, she knew that she had to relinquish control, even if it was just a little.
Her neck muscles went slack as soon as the back of her head came to rest on a kitchen towel that Mr. Hayes had placed strategically over the back of the chair.
"Just relax. I’ve already had the room made up at home. It was supposed to be a surprise but," he rested the saucer of ice on the middle of her forehead, "this is just as good."
The shock of cold was a welcome relief. In minutes, she could feel the icy sensation sinking deeper and deeper into her flesh, relaxing the tight muscles that were causing all of her grief.
A steady trickle of cool, melted water dribbled down over her eyebrows and started to pool near the corners of her eyes.
"That’s so nice," she sighed and licked her lips.
Mr. Hayes circled her right temple with the shrinking piece of ice. Before long, he had to go back to the cup for another.
With the second piece, he started back up at her temple, though it didn’t stay there long. Over time his hand drifted lower, tracing the delicate lines of her jaw and the gentle outward thrust of her collar bone. Further still, Mr. Hayes pushed the ice on a downward slope across her chest. Again the water trickled down, quickly soaking through Tracy’s white tank top and bra.
"Mr. Hayes," she gasped. "I didn’t tell you…"
He leaned down over her, his chiseled nose brushing up against her chin, and kissed her. A moment later, he pulled back just far enough to speak.