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“You’re not liking the eighties tunes?”

Rane scrubbed his chin. “It’s different.”

“Okay, let’s move on to another decade. Computer, play dance tunes from the nineties.”

Rane winced as harsh electronic music with a thumping beat began.

Nell danced around wildly. “All we need is some acid and face paint.”

“I can supply the paint.” Rane wrinkled his brow. “What do you need the acid for?”

“Not that kind of acid or paint,” Nell said. “People used to smear paint on their bodies, and it glowed in the dark. I used to go to retro dance clubs with friends when growing up. We loved this kind of thing. It’s great for working up a sweat.”

Rane could see that by the way Nell’s shirt clung to her breasts. He found he couldn’t tear his gaze from her chest as she jiggled around and laughed.

That was a sound he’d grown to love. He was glad he could make her laugh and smile again.

“Okay, I can see you’re hating this,” Nell said. “Let’s jump forward another decade, computer.”

A gruff sounding male voice started singing about something called a wonder wall.

Nell slowed her dancing and swayed from side to side. “I was always more of a Blur fan.”

“I can imagine you were. This has an interesting sound. You danced to this?”

“Not really. It was more like drunken swaying. This band was huge.”

“I can’t figure out why,” Rane muttered.

She grinned. “Time to move on to more recent music.” Nell chose a couple of upbeat, bass-filled numbers and showed Rane a fascinating move called a twerk. It involved her thrusting her bum up and down in the air and making her cheeks wobble in such an inviting fashion he wanted to kneel and bite them.

“What about your music?” Nell asked as the song faded. “I’ve often felt the desire to move when you’re humming.”

Rane knew that, having enjoyed every thrust of her hips and shimmy she made as she laid next to him on the bed. “You have?”

“Yes, especially when you do that deep hum, the one where you have to extend the frill around your neck. That gets me right in the pit of my stomach.”

“I can hum for you in that way.” Rane shrugged, pretending it was no big deal. Olickie used their ability to stimulate others. They did it as part of a mating ritual, humming to their potential mate using a specific set of resonations to show they were a suitable match. Nell couldn’t realize that asking him to do this was a sign of commitment from him.

“I love the way the sound tickles down my spine. It feels like I’m making progress. I’m feeling happy.”

That’s exactly what Rane had meant it to feel like. He wanted Nell to feel both comforted and stimulated when around him. He wanted to push her past the numbing sensation his ability had and make her feel something else, make her feel alive and excited about the world again.

Nell rolled her shoulders and shook out her arms and legs. “Go on then; hum for me.”

Rane shifted the intonation of his hum and turned it into a rhythmical sound.

Nell’s hips swayed gently from side to side at first, but she picked up the pace and carved an intricate figure eight through the air. Her arms moved in a fluid wave pattern around her head and down her sides. Her fingers twisted to emphasize the movement of her hips.

Damn, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. As her eyes closed, and she tipped her head back, he wanted nothing more than to devour her.

He remained standing, lost in his undisguised lusting for Nell as she shifted and twirled in time to his voice. Rane’s cock strained against his pants, and he longed to free it. This woman was going to end him.

He couldn’t have her. Nell saw him as part of her ongoing therapy. If this ever stopped working on her, or she felt she didn’t need him anymore, she would discard Rane just as she’d done her other therapists. He had to be prepared for that, prepared for when Nell no longer needed him.

Before she left him, he would paint her. If he couldn’t have the real thing, at least he’d have a permanent reminder. Something he could look at and remember seeing the color rise in her cheeks and the sweat bead on her forehead as she danced and thrust and shimmied around his room like some untouchable goddess.

He didn’t even realize it, but he’d taken several steps closer to Nell, like she was a magnet drawing him in.