title: Dark Hearts: The Unconscious Forces That Shape Men's Lives
author:  Loren Pedersen 
description: Loren E. Pedersen is a psychologist, Jungian analyst trained at the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. His interests include men?s psychology, stress and pain management, and biofeedback. He has taught graduate and undergraduate psychology and psychophysiology. He consults with Hospice staff groups.
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  ### Mystery Man
  
  
  
  
  
  Kristen Ashley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Prologue
  
  
  
  
  
  Mystery Man
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  I felt the covers slide down my body then a hand light on the small of my
  back. It was so warm it was hot, like the blood that ran through its veins
  went faster than the blood of any average man.
  
  
  
  
  
  If this was true, it wouldn’t surprise me.
  
  
  
  
  
  I opened my eyes and it was dark. It was always dark when he visited me.
  
  
  
  
  
  I had a moment like every moment I had when he showed. A moment of sanity. A
  moment where my mind said to close my eyes and open my mouth and tell him to
  go away.
  
  
  
  
  
  But if I did, I knew he would. He wouldn’t say a word. As silently as he came,
  he’d leave.
  
  
  
  
  
  And he’d never come back.
  
  
  
  
  
  But this was the right thing to do. The smart thing to do. The sane thing to
  do.
  
  
  
  
  
  And I was thinking of doing it, honest to God, I was. I thought about doing it
  every time.
  
  
  
  
  
  Then I felt his weight hit the bed, his body stretching out beside mine, he
  turned me