Ancient Hunger: A Modern Mythos

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INCUBARE

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“Because of your captive spouse,

because of your captive child,

your rage is increased,

your heart unassuaged.”

―from the Exaltation of Inanna

Enzu watched the woman closely as she walked into his shop. The sound of his heart rushed to his ears, stilling him cautiously, but he did not court the thought that she could be the cause. She was beautiful sure, but in his line of work he saw lots of beautiful women. Usually in various states of undress. But, there was something else about her and he could not quite put his finger on it. He was not necessarily concerned. Once her blood spilled, Enzu knew that she would just be the vessel for his control and she would be none the wiser.

“I have an appointment. I'm Tristan. Tristan Webb.” She was a little apprehensive, but that was normal for first timers. Enzu could see her carotid artery jumping rapidly and frowned. It was beating in time with the sound of his blood that was plaguing his senses. It was disconcerting to say the least. He needed to get started and clear his head.

Enzu walked out from behind the counter and led her to his workstation. “What did you have in mind?” He motioned to his chair and she handed over a piece of paper with what looked to be random markings, but as he stared at the paper, a feeling of unease settled in his gut. What the fuck was going on? It had been awhile, but still, he did not remember it feeling like this. This...sudden.

“I copied it, but I would like the edges to be sharper. I don't want it to be perfect, I mean, I want it to look really nice, but I want it to look drawn on rather than stenciled,” Tristan explained.

“Where do you want it?” He looked from the paper to her face.

She touched the right side of her chest, above her breast. “Just below my collarbone, on the right side.”

“I will need you to unbutton your shirt, but probably not all the way. Sit back and I will sketch.” Enzu grabbed his pen and waited for her to shrug the shirt off her shoulder. He looked away as she began to pull her bra strap down. He did not understand why his mouth went dry. She let out a nervous giggle and he looked up.

“I wore this bra specifically because the strap comes off, but I can't reach it. Would you mind getting it?” Tristan was blushing just a bit now, and Enzu watched as she turned to the side so that he could unhook the strap from the back of the band. He could not stop his knuckles from lingering. Usually when he was asked to help, he would almost always politely refuse. It was easy to tell which ones really needed his help. Tristan reclined and it took a moment for Enzu to place his arm comfortably and efficiently between her breasts. He could not look at her face right then. “I am just going to do a quick outline, then we can go from there.”

Tristan nodded and Enzu went to work, but even her breathing was distracting him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply to get control of whatever was affecting him, but that made it worse. What he could not see, he could smell. He needed to make this a quick one. “How is this?” He handed her a mirror.

Tristan had not expected immediate attraction to Enzu as soon as she walked in the door. Honestly, a tattoo artist usually was not on her radar, but she had felt a strong pull as soon as she saw him. Maybe it was just her body celebrating its break-up from Jason and knew that this would be the first intimate touch in weeks. “Oh, yes. This is perfect. Marcella was right.” Tristan loved it. She could not wait to see the end result.