Paul frowned as he peered past a drop of rain on the windshield. The single-story of beige brick and short, tidy asphalt driveway wasn't what he'd expected. The house, with its sweep of well-kept lawn, looked like any other suburban home. It sat on a sparsely populated, dead-end street in a far corner of Mansion Grove. Beyond the house, the limbs of an autumn-stripped forest rose up to the gray evening sky.
He pulled into the driveway and paused before turning the engine off. As he'd driven into the small residential community, both disbelief and irritation had wrestled with Paul's feelings for Melissa. He'd met her only three months before and for possibly the first time in his life, Paul thought he'd found a woman who incited his heart more than his libido.
Or at least somehow managed to put his libido in a reasonable proportion. Thirty-two-year-old Paul had, since age nineteen, possessed a powerful sex-drive. One that had, for the last thirteen years, demanded he satisfy himself within the eager flesh of countless women. His romantic longings had not been absent as much as muted.
Melissa, though, had changed the balance between heart and carnality. At least for a while. Over the last month his libido had grown gluttonous. No matter how often he and Melissa had sex, his lust remained unslaked. Her enthusiasm for the act had withered, along with her willingness to indulge inventive attempts at satisfying his blind, ceaseless lust.
Three nights ago, her patience broke and she'd left the apartment. Paul had, in a vague way, always known that he had a problem. With Melissa's exit, Paul had reluctantly agreed maybe he did need help of some sort. Even now, though, that agreement hovered in the periphery of his mind, shunned by a resentment Melissa had mandated Paul seek help from her mentor, Nadine.
He knew little about the woman other than she was, of all things, a witch. Melissa had never used the word, but the few things she'd said about the Gathering made it clear Nadine was more than den mother to a group of nature enthusiasts. He sighed and pulled the keys from the ignition. He snickered at the thought he was about to seek therapy from a witch. A witch, he thought, and climbed from the car.
The woman who opened the door was, like the house itself, not what Paul had expected. Nadine was neither an old, wizened crone nor a dramatic temptress with a penchant for black. She was, at a guess, somewhere either side of forty and stood about even with his nose. Dark, sober eyes gazed up at him.
The simple white gown falling from her throat to her feet made her dark skin and straight, waist-length black hair glow. Though her gown revealed little of her figure, he could tell easily enough she was slender. Paul caught his breath as he glanced at the jut of her high, modest breasts.
"Paul? It's nice to meet you. Come in, please." She said, and stepped back.
Her voice carried authority, as did the sculpted planes of her face. With only the few words she'd spoken, Paul could appreciate how others might trust and follow her.
"Thanks." He said and stepped into the house.
His eyes fixed on her rump as she led him into a large, open living room. A lamp sitting in a corner complimented dancing light from a fireplace. The room was, again, not what he'd expected. The few pieces of furniture were cream-white or a rich, dark brown. No goat's head or skulls grinned at him and he didn't see anything that suggested an interest in the occult.
"Please." Nadine said and gestured to a pale couch.
Paul sat. Nadine stood near the center of the room as if she was a minister patiently awaiting congregates to settle themselves. She smiled politely. Paul looked at her and started when he saw how transparent her gown was.
The contours of her lithe body were just more than hinted at. He bit his lip and took a deep breath. He crossed one leg over the other and glanced at the mantle behind her, telling himself he hadn't just seen compelling evidence she wore nothing but skin under her gown.
"I want to thank you for coming here tonight, Paul. It means a great deal to Melissa, and to me as well. I'm quite fond of her." Nadine said.
"Me too." Paul said.
He licked his lips and fidgeted. Now that he was sitting in Nadine's house, embarrassment crept into every corner of his mind. He knew Melissa wanted this meeting and had probably told Nadine a great deal. Still, he wasn't sure he could discuss something as intimate as his sex-life with a total stranger. She's not a stranger to Melissa, he reminded himself.
"I know this must be difficult for you, but from what Melissa has told me, I'm quite certain I can help. Otherwise I would have counseled her on some other form of action." Nadine said.
Paul squirmed and looked toward the front door. The thought of leaving seemed pointless when he realized Nadine already knew about his sex-life. Might as well ride this out, he thought. Maybe Melissa would come back to the apartment tonight, now that he'd honored her request. The ember of lust the thought spawned cooled. She probably wouldn't unless Nadine said it was okay. The thought brought a pang of resentment.
"Well, like you said, we're both fond of her." He said.
"Yes." Nadine said and nodded. The warm expression on her face shifted to a more serious cast.
"I won't waste your time, Paul. Melissa has told me a good deal of your problems. I also know you understand little of our beliefs and likely find them insipid. You at least will when I tell you why your libido is so powerful." Nadine said.
Paul cringed and felt a protest rise up within him. Melissa had never said much about her religious convictions and Paul had never pressed her on the matter. Not from a lack of interest, but out of respect and a suspicion she feared her unorthodox worldview would elicit derision.
"No," Paul said. "I really don't know much about what you and Melissa are into, but I don't think I'd call it insipid. Odd, maybe." He said.
His eyes crawled over Nadine's breasts and he could almost feel how her jutting nipples would feel between his lips. Living with Melissa the last two months had spoiled him. Her absence the last few nights and the sorrow it brought had subdued his libido somewhat. Now it awoke and Paul squirmed under its hot breath.
"What I'm about to say, I fear, will sound insipid. Or perhaps insane. Melissa has told me when and where you were born, and given the nature of your problem, its likely cause is quite interesting." Nadine said.
Oh boy, Paul thought, here we go. Melissa had given Nadine his birth date and now she was about to tell him his horoscope. He let out a breath, his spiraling lust momentarily cowed. He looked at the front door again.
"Quite simply, Paul, you were born during a Shade Storm." Nadine said.
"A what?" Paul said. He frowned and suppressed a laugh.
"I do know how it must sound to you. Absurd. Or fantastic, at best." She said.
Shade Storm. The phrase went round and round in his head, sounding sillier with each pass. Sitting in this house seemed sillier with every passing second as well.
"Do you know what a shade is?" Nadine said. She lifted her head.
"Normally I'd say yeah, but I have a feeling you don't mean a shadow." Paul said.
His eyes drifted over Nadine's body. For a woman who was near middle-age, she had quite a youthful figure. Paul swallowed as his mind gave detail to what his eyes could not discern. Her face was smooth and glowed with health. He imagined how smooth the rest of her would be and drew a deep breath.
"Quite simply, a shade is a spirit. Sometimes that of the deceased. And some are beings that never lived. As we do anyway. Or perhaps never lived on this world. No one knows for certain." Nadine said.
Her posture had changed as she spoke, becoming sure and authoritative. It was only when she had stopped that Paul blinked and realized Nadine believed every word. Holy shit, he thought. How, he wondered, could Melissa buy into any of this. He'd assumed Melissa and Nadine's beliefs would be some exaggerated form of back-to-nature enthusiasm. Spirits and otherworldly beings were just too much.
"Okay. So what's that have to do with me?" Paul said.
"The most direct but by no means full explanation is that you were exposed to a shade at the time of your birth. I suspect it whispered in your ear and made promises – carnal promises that few, if any men could ever hope to satisfy." Nadine said.
The fire popped and hissed. Paul simply stared at Nadine for several moments. She returned his gaze. He wanted to laugh and walk out the door. An unpleasant notion held him in his seat. If Paul didn't play along, Nadine could possibly break his relationship with Melissa.
"So, so you really think a ghost is making me hornier than the average guy?" Paul said. Somehow he suppressed laughter as he spoke. What the fuck has Mel gotten into, he thought.
"I do understand how all of this must seem, but simply, yes. I won't know until I've examined you." Nadine said.
Paul blinked. The idea, in tandem with her theories, should have broken whatever diplomatic patience he possessed. His blood raced through his body, though, as he thought of the petite woman being near him. Touching him. He bit his lip.
"I really don't know what you expect to find, but," Paul said and shrugged.
Nadine stepped to a far corner of the room. Paul's eyes fixed on the way her compact rump shifted as she moved. His cock swelled and he took a deep breath. She pulled a straight-backed wooden chair to the middle of the floor and set it facing the fire.
"Sit here please." Nadine said.
