I closed my eyes briefly, giving over to the sensations, the waves of pleasure sweeping over me, tingling my skin. Goose bumps flickered to life.
I'd been waiting to feel like this for a long time. Hot. Bothered. Needy. From a man though, not a ring! From a Viking or a space pirate or a Highlander. Even a stockbroker from Cleveland. If I was to seek pleasure from an inanimate object, it should be from the vibrator in my bedside drawer rather than a ruby ring.
I was losing my mind! How could a ring make me feel this way? I laughed nervously. Embarrassed. "Waiting for me?" I repeated. "That's a pretty good sales pitch."
"It's not a pitch." The saleswoman leaned in as she spoke. Whispered. "You know what I mean."
I noticed the older woman's eyes were rheumy with cataracts, her smile kind.
"I… I don't think so," I stammered and shook my head, trying with difficulty to hide my pleasurable discomfort. I tucked my hair back behind my ear nervously. It wasn't as if I wanted to share with the lady how close to orgasm I was.
The woman cracked a wide smile showing crooked teeth. "There hasn't been someone like you in a long time."
Who? Someone destined for the insane asylum? I placed my hand on my chest. "Someone... like me?"
I squeezed the heavy ring tight in my sweaty palm, felt the heft of it, the need in it. Was I a freak? Was I among a select few who acted strangely—sexually, by holding a ring in my hand? Where the hell was Tracy when I needed her? Would she be acting like a sex-starved lunatic too, or would she drag me away from the store telling me I was banned from lunchtime wine?
"It's your birthday, isn't it?" the woman asked, although I could tell by looking at her eyes she already knew the answer. A sage. Maybe a fortune teller?
Stunned, I could only nod my head. The longer I held the ring, the more I needed fulfillment. Answers. Relief from the pain/pleasure the ring elicited.
"You've been drawn to the ruby ring because it's your birthday. Ruby is your birthstone. You can see your past lives when you touch the ring. His ring."
"What?" I cried out, half in surprise, half pleasure. This was beyond strange. But why was I having these unusual, intensely erotic feelings? "Past lives? The ring belongs to someone?"
"Only the sexual part of a past life," the shopkeeper said. "And yes, the ring belongs to your man."
Okay, maybe the woman had lost her senses in her old age. "Sure," I muttered, sarcastically. "Did Tracy put you up to this?"
"You doubt."
I nodded my head. "Of course, I do."
"You feel it, don't you?" The woman looked me over, assessing me. Could she see my nipples were hard? "The lust, the sexual longing?" She laughed, rusty and rough. "Do not be embarrassed."
I felt my cheeks heat even further. If I couldn't mention my fantasy man to my closest girlfriends over a bottle of wine, I wasn't sharing my inner feelings with this lady.
"It's true. The ring makes you feel the sexual desires of a past life, for your one true man."
"Okay, say I believe you," I murmured, definitely embarrassed. Skeptical. At the same time, relieved I wasn't completely insane—well, maybe not. The woman's words, strange as they were, were an answer to why I was so aroused, ridiculous as it was. "I don't see anything like a past life flashing before my eyes—nor a man." But I was overwhelmed by the sexual desire.
"You feel the power though, don't you?" the woman asked.
I couldn't speak. I wasn't going to tell the shopkeeper my nipples were tight and my pussy clenched at the very thought of a rock hard cock. If I closed my eyes, I could envision lying on my back, spreading my legs wide, a dark head between my thighs with his mouth—
"Don't you?" the shopkeeper repeated.
"Yes!" I cried out, relieved and embarrassed to know I wasn't sick, just in tune somehow to a magic ruby. I frowned because I wasn't sure which was better. "I don't care about these so called past lives. Can it see my… future sex life?"
I needed a man. Now. Not decades or even centuries ago. It might have belonged to some seriously hot guy, but he wasn't here to relieve this ache.
"No." The woman smiled, clearly not the least bit bothered by the strange topic of conversation. "The ruby will take you back in time to relive a piece of a previous life. A sexual snippet in time with your mate. Rest assured, the man from the past life you will see again. In this lifetime."
"If I'll meet him in this lifetime, why should I go back in time?"
She offered a soft smile. "I'm old, but I'm not dead. As I said, you go back for one specific sexual interlude. Wouldn't you like that?"