Chocolate Kisses 2: Pearl Ch. 02

Past an arched wooden bridge was the red-painted front door guarded by a stone dragon. Nearby, hung a brass bell about a foot in diameter and he tapped it with his finger. It remained silent, too heavy to move with just a light push.

He doffed his fedora and knocked on the door.

Instead of an ancient, wizened Chinaman, John was surprised by a young woman wearing a white blouse and tan slacks. She had long, jet black hair, porcelain skin and just a smirk of a smile.

He spoke to the woman in halting Chinese and she stepped back, inviting him into the house. The interior was sparse, just the essentials present, mostly red and black lacquer and gold inlays.

In the room farthest back, she introduced her grandfather. Even though the old man was dressed in a white shirt and worn but clean Levis, John felt as if he was being presented to the Emperor in Peking's Forbidden City.

The man and his granddaughter spoke rapidly in Chinese. She turned to John. "We will see your friend, now."

John went back to the front door and whistled. Several tropical birds answered back.

A minute later, Jim removed his hat, wiped his feet and entered the house.

"C'mon, this guy's doing us a great favor because of what his grandson told him about us. They're a tight knit bunch."

For the longest time, Jim, through the woman as interpreter, related his problem to the old herbalist. He was unsettled that the beautiful woman was present during the old man's questions... even more so when he was asked to drop his pants. He turned bright red, redder even than the sun settling into the ocean.

The old man started speaking once again in Chinese. It was too fast for either Jim or John to follow and the young woman laughed.

"Grandfather says that you should be able to please many women."

"Please, lie down there," she said, indicating the bed in the room across the hallway.

He thought she was going to leave but then she just smiled and held out her hand for his trousers and underwear. Damn, he felt, this better be worth it. Where did John go?

Desperate for help, he did so but was still amazed when she closed the door, came to him, began to touch and then lick him, finally taking him inside her mouth. "Wait a minute! I don't..."

"Wait, please."

He felt himself becoming hot and tried to think of his wife but all he could see was the dark-haired beauty bobbing her head.

Then, she stopped and looked at her watch. Eventually, although longer than usual, he felt himself become flaccid. How could he do this to Bethany? What if she found out? Jesus Christ, even during the years between Catherine and Bethany, he had never done anything like this.

He tried to convince himself he was doing it for her... for them... for their marriage, but it was so strange, so illicit, so... damn it, so erotic as he had watched the black-haired beauty swallowing him down her throat.

"Very interesting," she remarked. "Eight minutes. Is this about right? When was the last time?"

Completely embarrassed, he nodded his head. "Eight minutes? Jeez, I don't know. Last month... Oh, God, this is so embarrassing."

"Do you think that's why you only lasted eight minutes right now?"

He nodded his head, unable to speak.

"All right, now I'm going to see if I can get you to ejaculate."

"Look, I really appreciate everything you're trying to do for me but since I've been married, I've never had anything to do with another woman; as a matter of fact, except for my two wives, I've never been with anyone else... that just isn't me. I'm not comfortable with this at all. It feels like I'm cheating on her."

"Look, Jim, I've got a Master's degree from Berkeley in Biology, specializing in nutrition and I've been researching natural ways to maintain health, especially Chinese herbal remedies. I can show you the papers on the wall if you wish.

"Now listen to me. You have a very serious personal problem here and if it can't be corrected it's going to cause a heart full of grief and sorrow and might even destroy your marriage. Is that what you want?

"You said your wife enjoys sex with you, making love with you. Don't you enjoy making love to your wife? Without help, that's not going to happen. Can you live with that? Can she live with that?

"Please, believe me this is necessary, as crazy as it sounds. It's not any different from any other medical test you might have to take. You're not cheating, even if you happen to enjoy it. As a matter of fact, if it's going to work, you have to enjoy it. Close your eyes and pretend it's your wife if that makes you feel better.

"Now, just relax and let me do what I need to do. Please." Her hand moved to hold him, again.

"This is... awkward," he said but still nodded his head, all the time wondering what he really was doing with another woman... a beautiful, exotic woman...

"If you love her, you owe it to her to at least try. If you keep this to yourself, no one will ever know and you know it's either yes or it's no."

She bent over him, touching him once again and began moving her hands on his skin. Slowly at first, up just a bit and then back down she took the skin, creating a little friction with her fingers.

He was erect... he was hard... he was hot and starting to feel a rush he hadn't know for weeks.

Was it her or just the situation? What about Bethany? Why was he responding to the dark-haired beauty touching him?

He didn't want to but he moaned and she took that as permission to continue.

Her head came down once more and engulfed him, amazing him as it disappeared into her mouth and then into her throat. She came back up and away.

She looked up for just a second and he thought he saw another enigmatic smile. "Are you ready?" Without waiting for an answer, she put her full attention to him.

He did his best to try and not try, hoping that he would actually learn something if he was ever going to please his wife again.

It seemed to last forever and it seemed to be over before it started. He erupted five times into the small towel that appeared from somewhere and still she continued to minister to him. Eventually, he stopped.

"I guess you were saving up," she said, quietly, trying to put him at ease now that she knew what she needed to know.

She waited for him to breathe calmly once again. "That was over fifteen minutes. I think that if you have your wife on top and doing a lot of the moving, you'll be able to achieve and maintain an erection sufficient to please her. That's right now... with your permission, I'm going to help you regain most of what you had when you were in your twenties.

"I know you're not going to believe it but you're able to perform quite well, as a matter of fact, very much quite well. From what you've told my grandfather, the biggest problem is that you always make sure that your wife is satisfied first, which of course, is quite commendable. Very few men even bother to worry about the woman at all, let alone whether or not she enjoys it to its fullest extent.

"Perhaps... perhaps you should take turns achieving orgasm. One time, it's her turn and the next, yours.

"But, as you've become older it's not as easy to maintain your erection that long, especially as you say that sometimes it's as long as a half-hour pleasing your wife. You have amazing stamina. Don't you get tired? Never mind.

"Now, we want you to try some of this... it has a Chinese herb from a tree called the Ginkgo along with some others. They've used it for centuries, especially as an aphrodisiac.

"I've spoken with many Chinese herbalists and they all swear by it. They even brought in men who are a great deal older than either of you... sort of a testimonial, I guess, but it convinced me.

"Look, what you need is better blood flow, especially there. I truly believe this will help that, along with the change in diet your Western doctor proscribed. These herbs should dilate your arteries enough that it causes a better blood flow, especially where you need it for this situation.

"Now, you must realize this is not a miracle cure and won't happen overnight. From what they've told me, it takes about four to six weeks and then, hopefully, your problem should go away as long as you continue to take it. That's because you wish to please her first because you really love her.

"Honestly, if you were just going to do it, you'd have no problem but that's not really making love, that's just sex... and not very good sex, at that... at least, from a woman's point of view.

"I know that's a long time but it should be worth it. Honestly, you need to speak to your wife about this. Well, maybe not about this, but about your problem in general. Make her understand what is happening. I bet she's really worried about the two of you. I probably think she's terrified about this, especially if you haven't spoken to her about it.

"Come back when you need more. This should take care of you for about three months, I think, a tablespoon each evening... that should do you the best for the morning, you know, with your natural morning erection."

After he left, she smiled once more. While there was a need to see if he was potent, she found herself enjoying him far more than was necessary. The others, she always sent into the room by themselves to obtain a sample. This time, though, it was different... it was... enjoyable. He was physically enchanting... and, impressive.

Jim started the car to drive back home. "Your Chinese is improving.

"I'm going to miss Eliza's fried chicken. We better keep the coleslaw, though."

"Well, that's better than missing having her and dying too soon." John looked out the window at the number of sailors standing around as they re-entered the town. "I guess your meta... what did he call it?"

"Metabolism..."

"Yeah, metabolism... your metabolism is different from mine... although I'm glad we found this out before it got too bad for either of us."

"Just the same..." argued Jim, trying hard to keep the car out of the deeper ruts. "Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread..."

The car went into another pothole.

"Ain't no chicken worth that much," John said, finally. "I'd rather die fucking than fucking die."

"You know, we need to get a newer car. This one doesn't like all these ruts out here, anymore."

"Yeah, well, neither does my back."

"Well, if we're going to keep coming out here, I guess you're right. Too bad, though, I like our old cars. They have character."

Early evening found Jim sitting at the table and drinking orange juice with Eliza, when Bethany ran into the kitchen from her walk up the hill. She took his glass away, caressed his face with her good hand, kissed him deeply and then looked deeply into his eyes.

She saw what she was looking for... that look of undying devotion that sparkled in his eyes and knew to her eternal soul she shared him with no one else but Catherine and all his daughters and she gave him the ability to live with those memories without them killing him in grief.

Holding his hand, she pulled him up and putting her arm around him, led him outside and they walked away into the dimming light.

"Bethany," he said, quietly, "there's something I have to tell you."

For just a moment, her heart was in her throat but then, she saw the love shining again in his eyes and smiled... whatever it was, they'd face it together.

He began to relate most of what happened with his visit to the doctor and the herbalist. The beautiful woman, her... he kept to himself. Some things, he knew, are better left unsaid.