Re-vamp, Re-edit, Re-post - re-view please?

On Monday I will celebrate 140 days of Steemit.

Looking back over my Steemit ‘career’, I’ve come such a long way.

My biggest irritation is that some of my stories didn’t get the ‘air-time’ I’m getting now.

4 votes (total) for the first post I made. I’m not sure how many people looked at the posts, never mind actually read them, but if the present algorithms are anything to go by, perhaps a quarter of a person looked at the story ;)

I’ve learned a LOT about formatting the stories to read better and I now know to put images in there to keep the reader’s interest.

To that end, I’ve decided to re-hash the posts and serve them up again, with a bit of seasoning and messing about that people do when they’re serving up left-overs to make the meal as tasty and exciting as the first serving.

Just in case I was too subtle, I’m re-editing the story, JUST for release on this platform and
I’ll NOT be posting this on my other blog first, so this is an exclusive re-hash for Steemit.

If you have read this, since getting to know me and my writing here, I’d be interested to know what you think of the ‘before’ and the ‘after’.

Dream Lover

She felt his presence; his nearness and his excitement in the air as he approached her from behind. He never varied that part, at least. Before he touched her, she could sense his very aura, her body alerting her even though her mind knew he was there. He came closer slowly, so the tiny hairs on her neck bristled with his nearness before he touched her and her body shuddered in delicious expectation.

She tensed with excitement and every nerve vibrated with anticipation as he brushed her skin with the tips of his fingers.

The first contact from him was electric and her skin tingled wherever his feather-light touch stroked. His lips brushed the side of her neck and she closed her eyes and leaned her head back onto his broad shoulder. His arms snaked around her and folded her into his embrace, trapping her arms, cocooning her. His teeth took the place of his lips on her tender and sensitive neck and again she shuddered. The nips, gentle yet insistent caused tremors across her shoulders and down her arms.

His breathing laboured as his passion rose to match hers and he pressed himself against her, the textures of each other’s bare skin another source of exhilaration.

She could feel his excitement and her mouth opened as though her panting breath needed an escape route. He stopped nibbling and watched. Teeth close to her neck, his tongue flicked out between them to tease her earlobe and he listened to her panting.

Impatient for him to restart his seduction, she could do nothing to force him to move faster. He knew he held her under complete control and he made her wait.

His hand stroked up her side, up to her throat and with his fingernails, he gently traced from her chin down...

Excruciating tension mounted almost beyond her endurance. She wanted to take his hands and place one on her breast and the other between her legs but as the thought of that desire flooded her mind, she realised she was unable to control her limbs. Her hands and arms unresponsive and immobile; a fleeting thought crossed her mind, “Oh no, not again!”

With that thought present in her mind and her body unwilling to respond to her commands, his caresses and strokes took on a different, intrusive tone and she still could do nothing.

Her mind screamed her protest but her body, her treacherous and lustful body urged him on!

As he laid her down, she closed her eyes because she did not wish to see the being that pleasured her and yet violated her night after night in her dreams.

She knew he was aware that she was protesting inside her mind. He knew her free will was locked away in the dream-state.

He knew, and he took full advantage of her instincts to mate, and he laughed. A sinister and dark laugh echoed in her head and she cringed from it.

As he lowered his body onto hers, she gasped, for his flesh was ice cold, almost painfully so.

She could not move her arms to stop him. Though she tried, of their own volition, they held him close and her legs wrapped themselves around him.

The consummate expert in seduction, he controlled himself perfectly. Working his magic upon her, she had no choice in the matter as her arms wrapped around his neck to pull herself up close to his body.

The cold of his skin disturbed her inner mind, she thought that he would have warmed up a little, at least, but no. An unnatural cold permeated the air around them, chilling sweat on her body. She wanted his coldness to douse the fire between her legs and yet she didn’t!

She hung onto him, arms and legs squeezing her body to his until her muscles ached. Her head hung down, back toward her pillow but still she did not let go, her arms couldn’t let go, they were not hers to command yet.

She ached for more of him and did not want it to end. Her mating instinct swamped her free will and it was all but silent as her legs pulled her yet closer to his deathly-cold body. Her arms crushed her breasts into his chest and her fingers entwined themselves in his hair.

The difference in temperature between them produced condensation on her perspiring body, and where they touched, flesh to flesh, felt slimy and clammy.

As he approached his own end, his body took on a change.

His skin became coarse, as did his hair. She felt as though she had hold of hanks of horse tail rather than the silky-smooth hair of her lover.

His skin became scaled, and the part of her mind aware and awake tried to resist but the somnambulant part strove for more, more.

She slumped dissatisfied. Skin crawling, she felt dirty and defiled even as her body shuddered in ecstasy.

Her body passed throes of passion as she felt the beginning of his.

Her arms weakened and she flopped back onto the bed. Her legs weakened a moment after but he maintained the physical connection between them as he did indeed, let loose his final shout of passion.

She shuddered anew, with disgust rather than gratification as he grunted his pleasure. More determined than ever to keep her eyes closed tight against the vision of horror that she knew her dream lover had turned into, she turned her head. He planted a kiss on her cheek. Lips no longer inviting and warm, they were scabbed and cold.

He laughed at her grimace and then she knew that he had gone.

Her bed saturated with sweat, again disgusted her and the sensation of cold and sticky residue of the night’s exertions caused her to sob into her hands.

Repulsed and dismayed, she stripped her bed for the third time that week.

After a fifty-minute shower that left her feeling scrubbed but not cleansed, she phoned her best friend, Dusty.

“I can’t take it anymore, I’m exhausted. I’ve rung work to say I’m ill three times this week already and they’re starting to ask questions. I can’t tell them I’m having nightmares, not at my age, but what can I do?”

“I’m coming over; I think this is something I have to see for myself.”

“Don’t be daft, there’s nothing to see...”

“Have you washed the sheets from your bed?”

“What? No, not yet, how did you know about the sheets?”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes, get the kettle on.”

True to her word, Dusty arrived in a little under ten minutes, the roar of her motorcycle announcing her arrival as she rode onto the driveway of the house.

Dusty walked right in through the front door, placed her helmet beside the door and called out for her friend. “Ange! Where are you?”

Dusty went into the kitchen and put her hand on the kettle, it was warm, so Ange had done as she’d been told, but where to find her?

It didn’t take long, Dusty found Ange in the living room, slumped on the sofa in front of the TV, her mug of coffee balanced upon her knee but tipping precariously.

Dusty took hold of the mug gently and pulled it out of Ange’s grip. Ange woke up at the disturbance and startled herself.

She jumped in shock, looked around and only calmed when she saw her friend. Dusty saw the dark smudges under her eyes that told of nights without sleep.

Dusty made them both a fresh mug of coffee, to give Ange time to gather her wits. Dusty handed over the coffee and insisted that Ange tell her everything.

“I’m embarrassed though,” Ange complained.

“Yeah, you’re also exhausted. This is a new thing; it’s not like you’ve just had one bad night. You’ve not slept properly for a week if the coal sacks under your eyes are anything to go by. It’s about time you either told me about it or you went to see the doctor.”

Ange looked at her friend and sighed. She knew Dusty was right. Sleepless nights were killing her and would cost her the job she had strived so hard to get. She knew she was lucky to get her dream job right from leaving college and she would do anything to keep it.

Ange thought for a moment before biting the bullet. She told Dusty everything.

“Don’t be mad at me, I know you don’t like them, but I went to Bella’s house last weekend, it was supposed to be an erotic lingerie and toy party but the girl that was supposed to come didn’t show up and we’d got all the wine and everything and we didn’t want to give it up as a wasted night so Bella...” Angie paused.

“Go on, what did Bella do?” Dusty prompted.

“She fetched her Ouija board out.” Angie didn’t say any more, she waited for Dusty’s reaction.

Angie waited for the outburst but Dusty sat in the chair across from her, sipping her coffee and waiting for her to continue, so she continued.

“Well, it was all very funny to start with, only one girl refused to play with it but we called her chicken until she gave in. I’m not sure we should have goaded her like that because as soon as she touched the plant... the plan... whatchamacallit?”

“The planchette,” Dusty said.

“Yeah that. As soon as she touched it, it started to move.”

“You were touching it too?”

“Yes. There was only me and her touching it, the others put their fingers back on it as soon as it started moving.”

“Then what happened?” Dusty prompted again.

Ange looked at her friend and tears welled in her eyes. “What have we done, Dusty? Have we released something?”

“I don’t know yet. Tell me when your nightmares began.” Dusty put her mug on the table and went to sit at the side of her friend. She didn’t sit too near because she could sense Ange’s discomfort at the nearness of her.

Dusty could wait until Ange did feel comfortable but for the time being, she sat where she was, next to her on the sofa, but not touching.

Ange stared into her mug and sighed again. “The planchette was going crazy, it was whizzing all over the board and we couldn’t tell which letters it was pointing to. Bella was laughing for a bit until the planchette flew off the board and hit her mum’s photo. She got mad at us then and said we’d gone too far. The girl that started it grabbed her coat and left the house. She didn’t take her wine or anything, she just went. I think she ran down the path after she slammed the door. I was a bit scared then. We didn’t throw the planchette, well at least I know I didn’t.”

“OK, I’ve got that bit, now, did anything happen that night?”

“Well yeah, as a matter of fact, I think something did. I had a fabulous dream but I can’t remember what it was about. There was a really gorgeous bloke in it and...” Ange stopped speaking. Dusty’s face had taken on an expression that she didn’t like.

It scared Ange, Dusty’s face paled enough to make her dark eyes stand out in sharp contrast and it Ange just couldn’t look away from the weird glow in her eyes. Ange did a double-take when she thought the irises had a red ring around them but Dusty blinked and the effect disappeared. Dusty frowned, worried about Ange’s story. Ange assumed that was because she was concerned for her health.

“Did you dream that you had sex with this gorgeous bloke?” Dusty asked in a quiet voice.

Ange’s cheeks grew hot as she blushed. “Dusty! What sort of question is that?”

“It’s an honest one. Did you dream that you had fantastic sex with him?”

“Well, yes...”

“Are you on the Pill?”

Ange’s cheeks had not had time to cool from the previous embarrassing question and they coloured up hotter and redder than before but she answered truthfully and immediately.

“Yes I am.”

“Well that’s some good news at least,” Dusty said almost under her breath but Ange heard her.

“Really, Dusty? I mean, really? You’re happy because I can’t get pregnant by a dream lover?”

“Yes Ange, really. That’s not a dream lover, it’s a nightmare one. You’re being attacked by an Incubus. I don’t know if the Pill will be enough to stop you from becoming pregnant by the Incubus. My thoughts are that if you can remember to take it, you’ll be ok, but if your subconscious takes over and makes you forget to, well then you could be in trouble.”

“What the hell, Dusty? What are you telling me?”

“I’m telling you that you’re being attacked by a demon and he wants nothing more than to make you pregnant because if you survive that experience, he’ll have the chance of a semi-demon offspring and that will be no good for you, not at all.”

“How do you know all of this?” Ange, Dusty’s very best friend, the closest she had, didn’t know Dusty’s darkest secret. Only because of their close relationship, did Dusty decide to tell her.

“I know all of this because my mother was attacked by an Incubus. She was a virgin when it attacked her and she eventually became pregnant. My grandparents were religious and at first wouldn’t believe she was pregnant but when she started to get a little bump, they realised it was true. They didn’t believe her that she was a virgin though, not until they had her examined, thoroughly.” Dusty watched Ange’s expression as she took in what Dusty was telling her and the realisation of the type of examination Dusty’s mother had been put through at first shocked and then disgusted her.

“So what did your grandparents do then?”

“Well, they tried, I suppose. They took her to see their minister who offered to bless the pregnancy. Some hope that was. Then they decided to get a proper priest in to do an exorcism and the Incubus showed up for that one. It threw things at them all, it laughed at the ceremony and it assaulted my mum, in front of her parents and that priest. They could all see her clothes being moved around as its hands were all over her. It was very bizarre of course and mum was nearly hysterical. I think, when it pulled her dress up and it became obvious that it was trying to have sex with her on the table that she was lying on, the priest threw holy water on it. It didn’t do anything really, from what mum told me, but it made it angry enough to slash at the priest’s face before it left.”

“Did it come back?”

“Not before I was born but after that, yeah, it came back and it wanted to take me but my mum fought hard for me.” Dusty became quiet and solemn then and Ange waited in silence.

Dusty’s eyes welled with tears, they took on a lighter shade than they had a few minutes before.

“It killed my mum on my eleventh birthday. It came for me and mum wouldn’t let it have me and instead of being invisible, it appeared to her as it had when it first seduced her. I saw it too. He was so handsome, he was almost beautiful. He had long blonde and wavy hair, his eyes were bright blue and his mouth just asked to be kissed.”

Dusty saw Ange’s expression of shock. “Yeah, I know, but even at eleven I knew that he was gorgeous, but it was a ‘Glamour’. It wasn’t its real image. Mum saw it reflected in the mirror over the fireplace and she threw salt at it.”

“Does salt work then?”

“No, it may have burned it a bit but it made it angry again. It snapped her neck and then snapped her back and left me alone. I don’t know why it didn’t take me with it when it had the chance but my grandparents came ‘round for my birthday party and found me crying over her body. I went to live with them after that.”

“Oh my God Dusty, is it going to kill me?” Ange started to shake but Dusty still didn’t reach out to her.

“No, you’re not going to die. I won’t let it kill you. I’m going to get rid of it.”

“Kill it?”

“No, I can’t kill it, it’s a demon but I can make it wish it had never thought of choosing my best friend to seduce.”

Dusty’s eyes had the red ring around the irises again and this time, Ange didn’t mistake it for her imagination. She saw the sparks dancing in the irises and she knew that her friend was going to kick some Incubus ass!

“Now, show me the sheets,” Dusty said.

First posted Here