“Come in, come in!”
Kalis nodded and stepped through the door, which promptly slid shut behind him. He had apparently been getting ready for bed as well, because he had on a pair of long, black sleep trousers and a short-sleeved shirt that matched, which showed off his muscular arms.
“All right, Mistress—let’s see what we’re dealing with,” he rumbled, as Jillian led him into the living area.
“What—you want me to take off my robe?” Jillian clutched the collar of the robe to her chest and winced as the silky fabric slid across her inflamed skin.
“How can I heal you if you don’t show me where you need to be healed?” Kalis asked reasonably. He seated himself on the overstuffed, Kindred-sized loveseat in front of the fireplace, which was currently turned on the low, no heat setting, so that it only emitted a warm golden glow.
“I guess that makes sense…” But still, she kept the robe on, unable to make herself open it or take it off.
“I saw you naked yesterday, Jillian,” Kalis reminded her gently.
“I know…” She could feel her cheeks getting hot. “It’s just…I was drugged by the stuff in the massage oil at the time. And now I’m not, which makes it a lot harder to let you, er, see me.”
“Are you afraid to show me your body because you think I’ll try something?” Kalis arched an eyebrow at her. “Because I give you my word as a Kindred, I won’t. Won’t do anything you don’t want me to, little Mistress.”
“It’s not that…” Jillian sighed. “I’m just…not as young as I used to be.”
“So? Neither am I,” he pointed out. “You think I’ll find you any less beautiful because of that? Because I don’t, Jillian,” he murmured, his eyes going suddenly half-lidded. “I think you’re fucking gorgeous. But that’s beside the point—right now, I just want to see what I’m working with so I can heal you.”
His words made her feel better…and made her heart beat faster at the same time. Gathering her courage, Jillian nodded.
“Well…all right.” Biting her lip, she opened the robe, exposing herself to the big Kindred.
Kalis sat forward on the couch and gave a low whistle.
“Whew—those spines really did a number on you! Did they get your back, too?”
“No, just my front, where she…er he, was pressing me against him,” Jillian said. “Oh, and my hands.” She closed the robe again and showed the big Kindred her reddened palms and fingers. They were painful, but not quite as bad as the rest of her body for some reason.
“Hmmm.” He nodded. “Yeah, you’ve got a pretty bad case of venom poisoning, I’d say.”
“Yes, but you said you could heal me. Can you?” Jillian asked. She knew she sounded impatient but this really hurt, damn it!
“I can,” Kalis said, nodding. “But I’m not sure you’ll like how I do it.”
“What? What do you mean? How do you do it? I mean, how can you heal me?” Jillian demanded.
He didn’t answer in words. Instead, he leaned forward and took her right hand in both of his. Bringing her hand to his face, he licked a long, slow trail from the heel of her hand all the way up to her fingertips.
At the first touch of his tongue, Jillian gasped and tried to jerk away. But the big Kindred wouldn’t let her. He held her gently but firmly and continued licking her palm and hand until he had finished the whole thing. Then he let her go and sat back on the couch, apparently waiting for her reaction.
Jillian wasn’t sure what to say.
“Why…why did you do that? You…”
Her voice trailed off as she examined her hand…which was now completely healed. All traces of redness and swelling were gone. Aside from being slightly damp, her right hand was completely normal.
She was healed—he had healed her. By licking her.
“What…” she said in a low voice. “The actual fuck? How did you do that?”
Kalis gave her an easy grin.
“Used the healing power of my other form—the same way I used his strength when I shaved off pieces of thaelite for the soup. He does come in handy, sometimes.”
“I, uh, guess so.” Jillian was still staring fixedly at her newly healed hand. She compared it with her left palm, which was still red and so swollen it now hurt to even bend her fingers.
“Here, little Mistress—let me take care of that for you.”
Casually, Kalis took her left hand and bathed it with his tongue, just as he had done for the right. Then he released her and sat back on the couch again.
“This is amazing…” Jillian stared down at her healed hands. “Can you do this for anyone? Did you do it for your old Mistress? The one who dealt with Nebrians all the time?”
He shook his head.
“I can only heal a female I’m attuned to. I’ve never been attuned to any of my Mistresses—that’s why I knew about the alternative forms of healing for Nebrian venom poisoning. My old Mistress chose to use the salve that turns your skin purple, by the way,” he added. “For the next five years, everything she wore was purple, to match it. It kind of became her signature color.” He shrugged.