Beautiful nightmares, p.39
Beautiful Nightmares, page 39
Oliver’s erection was so hard that the length of it was firmly tucked between my legs, the tip brushing against my clitoris. A breath hitched in my throat. Oliver cursed, his voice low and irritated, and he quickly faced the other way. After a moment, he sat up, drawing his legs up against him. He rubbed the back of his head in obvious embarrassment.
Not too long ago, I might have reached around and wrapped my fingers around his length. But… I’d just slept with Laurie. Even now, in the real world, the Seelie Prince slept naked beside me, our bodies cooling from the vigor of our lovemaking. We weren’t exclusive or committed, by any means, but I’d just started enjoying sex. Taking on multiple partners at once, even if one wasn’t exactly rooted in reality, felt like too much right now.
“I’m sorry,” Oliver said, turning his head so I could hear him.
“I’m okay,” I told him. It was the truth. I patted the empty spot in the sleeping bag. “Come back. I’ll sleep better with you next to me.”
Still looking frustrated with himself, Oliver laid down. I tugged his arm back over my waist, careful not to bump against him with my backside. Just having him nearby helped warm my frozen skin. Oliver relented, and the stiffness left his muscles.
Quiet swelled in the darkness. Outside our small tent, the wind howled. It occurred to me that something else could be out there and spot the glow of the space heater. I stared at the wall of the tent as if I could see through it. If there were creatures in the water, it stood to reason there were probably some on land. Hunting. Hungry.
“Go to sleep,” Oliver murmured in my ear, probably feeling the tension in me. “I’ll keep watch.”
He gave me a comforting squeeze, and I felt his fingertips against my bare stomach. With a start, I looked down and realized that I’d turned my hand over, folding my fingers in the spaces between his. Emotion lodged in the place where words usually formed, and I could only nod in response. Oliver shifted. A moment later I felt his arm move, and he put it beneath my head.
An involuntary sigh left me. The hum of the heater, the faded glow, the body heat and blankets—it felt like we were in our cottage again. Back where everything was familiar and safe. My eyelids fluttered once. Twice. The third time, they stayed shut. The imprint of the space heater lingered for a second or two, then darkness. Lovely, peaceful darkness.
As I waited to drift into nothingness, those words replayed in my head, spoken in the voice of my younger self.
Monster, monster, come out to play. Monster, monster, I’ve been waiting all day.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Laurie’s scent was all around me as I opened my eyes to darkness.
The fire had burned down to embers, and there was no other light in the room. I shivered as I noticed how much the temperature had dropped. Now that I was a Nightmare again, the cold shouldn’t have bothered me so much. I had a feeling it was more psychological than physical.
It was becoming difficult, pulling my mind out of the dreamscape every time I woke up. This was the real world, I reminded myself. So why did it feel like part of me had stayed in that small tent with Oliver? Restless, I shifted onto my side and stared at Laurie, but it was too dim to see the details of his sleeping face. Even his breathing was silent.
Wishing I could go for a run, I left the bed and crossed the room. Air whispered over my bare skin. Shivering, I knelt in front of the hearth and eyed the faded glow at its center. After a moment, I cast around for any objects or tools I could use. There was a set of pokers hanging on an iron rack. With silent, delicate movements, I removed one and used it to stoke the embers.
I wasn’t sure what made me turn—maybe it was that sense of being watched. When I saw Laurie’s eyes were open, his face turned toward me, I wasn’t surprised. His hair, the color of a moonrock, was all raked to one side and lent it that casually tousled look.
“Did I wake you?” I asked quietly. It didn’t make sense that I was trying to be quiet now, after I’d just filled the tunnels with my cries, but it was habit. At home, there was always someone sleeping in another room. A reason to keep our voices hushed.
Yet another pang of homesickness resounded through me, then, and I tried to distract myself by putting the poker back.
“I’m a light sleeper,” was all Laurie said.
That fit, I thought. It made sense that he only ever hovered at the edge of sleep, instead of submerging. Collith was the dreamer, and Laurie was the schemer.
“Come back to bed,” he said suddenly. The words weren’t a command, and there was no note of persuasion in that silken voice. It was a promise, I thought as I stood, the newly-revived firelight flickering around my naked body. I knew that if I got back into that bed, more awaited me. More Laurie, more fucking, more complications.
I walked toward him without hesitation.
The instant I rested my knee on the edge of the mattress, Laurie wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled me down. Curious to see what he would do, I twisted and landed on my back.
In a single, graceful movement, Laurie settled on the lower half of my body. His eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks as he focused downward. He kneaded my thighs with his fingers, displaying that strength I kept forgetting about. The strength I suspected that I’d never forget again. Then, slowly, he bent and kissed his way up one inner thigh, caressing my skin with brief nips and sucks. I felt his tongue, too, the tip teasing that most sensitive part of me. I gasped, opening my legs wider in an instinctive movement, but then Laurie was gone. He started making his way back up the other side, doing the same things with his lips and tongue.
My core ached, and at some point, I’d bitten my wrist to stop myself from begging. At the apex of my thighs, Laurie stopped and raised his head. Our gazes met, and he smirked, his eyes gleaming. Seeing that, I realized he was doing this on purpose. Torturing me. Making me frantic for more.
Oh, you bastard, I thought with another rush of arousal. I’d forgotten about Laurie’s wicked streak. The part of him that could never resist stirring the pot or causing a bit of chaos. I should’ve expected it would apply to the bedroom, as well.
We stared at each other for another beat. My breathing was slightly uneven. Then, still keeping his eyes on mine, Laurie lowered his face. His tongue dragged up my clit, exploring it, learning me. I let out a long, breathy moan, my palms flattened on either side of me, as if I were bracing myself.
I still wasn’t prepared for it when Laurie’s mouth closed around my clitoris and gave it a hard suck. Within seconds, I was desperate to come, wanting to buck my hips into Laurie’s beautiful face, but his hands pressed firmly against my hip bones and urged me to wait, to savor, to fully experience the moment as he was.
Holy shit, this faerie knew what he was doing.
For minutes, or maybe hours—time lost meaning in the blissful haze of Laurie’s administrations—he brought me to the edge of orgasm, only to coax me back downward, teasing. Then he yanked me back to that precipice. Sounds tore from my throat, mindless and pleading. I held onto the sheets as if I were falling… and then I was.
It was the most shattering climax I’d ever had.
I couldn’t form thoughts or words. There was only sensation. Waves of pleasure. Heat and light. Once it finally came to an end, I opened my eyes, dazed, and saw that Laurie was sitting upright now, expertly rolling a condom onto his erection. He picked up my legs and propped them against his hips, then tipped his head and went utterly still. He was waiting for a signal, I realized. An indication that I wanted this.
Giving Laurie a contented smile, I reached up and ran my hand down the length of his hard stomach.
That small movement was all he needed.
I was so wet that his cock slid inside me effortlessly. I gasped at the size of him, and Laurie let out the quietest of sighs, as if he were overcome by it, too. A second later, he pulled out and slammed back in, causing the feeling to erupt all over again. And again. And again. With every thrust, my head thudded against the headboard. For some reason, I liked it. I liked the roughness and the urgency. There was a hard edge to Laurie’s lovemaking. No, not lovemaking, I thought dimly. This was pure, delicious fucking.
Without warning, Laurie pulled out and his cock fell away. I was about to protest when he grabbed my hips and flipped me over so I was on my knees. “Not done with you yet,” he breathed.
I arched my back instinctively, opening myself to him, and his growl rumbled through me before Laurie drove himself back inside. I buried my face in the pillow to smother a cry. In this position, it felt like his cock was touching the most sensitive part of my entire body. A familiar sensation prickled through my lower stomach.
Then Laurie tugged me upright, shifting us so my back pressed against his sweat-dampened chest. Within seconds, he was thrusting again, one arm lodged beneath my breasts and the other on my clit. As he rocked back, then in again, his capable fingers touched and coaxed. I was lost in sensation—my head tipped back and rested on his shoulder. I met Laurie thrust for thrust as he added a third finger. This time, there was no pillow to hold back my cries. They shattered the air, again and again, making our sex feel even more urgent and erotic. Then, with his middle finger, Laurie began to stroke, long and deep, hitting just the right spot.
I tipped over the edge again, and the exhale that left me was completely involuntary. In the midst of the crashing waves, I heard Laurie coming, too. His hips pressed against my ass and stayed there, his body jerking.
We returned to Earth together. I became aware of my breathing first, then Laurie’s, the air leaving our lungs hard and fast. Slowly, he eased out of me and released his iron grip. I sank to my knees as if I had turned into liquid.
While Laurie took off his condom and left the bed, presumably in search of a waste basket, I lowered myself back onto my stomach, feeling drowsy and serene. My eyes fluttered shut. The mattress dipped as Laurie rejoined me. His scent floated past an instant before he began tracing sinuous patterns across my back, sparks trailing in the wake of his fingers.
“Lyari stopped by earlier, but you were asleep,” he murmured.
My eyes snapped open, and the happy glow around my mind started to fade. “Shit. I do need to talk to her. There should be plenty of time for that, right? Since we’re not exactly leaving today.”
Actually, what was the plan? Did Laurie think I would stay at the Unseelie Court indefinitely? I sat up and angled my body toward him, frowning in thought. Even if I were willing to hide forever, which I wasn’t, I ached to see my family. The last interaction I’d had with any of them was during the scrying spell, when Belanor’s drugs were ravaging my body and making everything a blur.
I raised my gaze to Laurie’s, on the verge of asking all the questions hovering on my tongue. “It is strange, being with me here?” he asked suddenly.
At first, I frowned with miscomprehension. Understanding struck me a moment later. Here meant at the Unseelie Court, where so many of my chapters with Collith had been written. And there we were, two of his exes, laying naked in sheets still rumpled from what we’d done on them.
“No,” I said, looking around the room as if seeing it for the first time. Whoever chose the decorations had either been from India or inspired by the culture, because there were marks of it everywhere. Madhubani art, dhokra lamps, and pots made of terracotta. A toran hung over the door.
Finished with my perusal of the space, I refocused on Laurie. “Have you been to India?”
I wasn’t sure why I let myself ask the question—this wasn’t a date, and there were way more important topics to cover. But Laurie didn’t react, anyway.
At some point, while studying our surroundings, I’d shifted onto my side. The bedsheet was draped over my hips, but the rest of me was still naked. Laurie didn’t bother to hide the fact that he was staring. Instead, he took his time, his gaze starting at my stomach, then making its way upward. The intensity in his eyes reignited that heat inside me, but I was still sore from our last round.
“That’s not going to work,” I said. The small hitch in my voice betrayed me. I cleared my throat and continued, “You knew I was going to ask eventually. What’s the plan to get us out of this? Because I’d rather face Belanor’s entire inner circle than spend one more night here.”
Before I could deter him, Laurie slid his hands under my body, rolled me under him, and pressed his pulsing erection into the space between my legs. See what you do to me? that thrust said.
I realized I was smiling. “You didn’t answer me,” I reminded him.
“Sorry, what was the question?” He shook his head. “India, right. Yes, I’ve been there many times. It’s... hot.”
He’d gotten distracted again. I laughed, tipping my head back to rest against the bed. I felt my long hair drape off the edge. “How shocking. And that wasn’t the question I was talking about, Laurelis Dondarte. Stop dodging.”
“Very well. If I must.” Laurie looked at me as if he were memorizing every detail, every moment. “I have a confession to make, Fortuna.”
His tone, along with his use of my name, made my smile fade. I searched his eyes. “Okay.”
Laurie didn’t take a breath, but the pause he took felt like one. He pressed a kiss to my stomach and rested his cheek against it. Then the faerie lifted his head and said, “I didn’t bring you to the Unseelie Court entirely because it was the only option.”
“Then why…” I trailed off as realization hit me. Of course, I thought. Why else would Laurie be drawn here? What else did Laurie care about, besides me and his inner circle? I sat up slowly, sliding my body out from his. He instantly leaned away to give me space. “You want to save Collith.”
All this time, I’d been trying not to say his name, though it always hovered at the back of my mind like a ghost in an old, creaky house. Even as I fucked his ex. Even as I smiled. Even as I laughed.
“We’re the only family he has left, Fortuna.”
Though Laurie kept his voice low, it felt like he’d shouted the words at me. I pulled out of my freefall with a mental snap, already shaking my head. “No. No fucking way. He can rot down there, for all I care.”
Laurie shifted so he sat facing me, his arm resting atop one bent knee. He studied my expression, and when he spoke again, his voice was unexpectedly soft. “They’re torturing him, Fortuna.”
Good. I opened my mouth to say it out loud, but something stopped me. I pursed my lips and shook my head again.
Laurie smiled. There was nothing light-hearted or sympathetic about that smile, and I couldn’t ignore the sense that I’d disappointed him, somehow. The thought felt like a splinter in my finger. Annoying. Relentless. Out of all the terrible choices I’d made, this was the one he was actually going to judge me for? Laurie?
“What’s that saying? She has fire in her soul and spite in her heart?” he murmured. I flinched as if he’d struck me, and suddenly I didn’t want to be naked anymore.
“I think the verse is ‘grace in her heart.’ But you’re funny. No, really, I’ll be laughing the entire way home. See you around, Laurie.” I tossed the sheet aside and swung my legs to the floor, ignoring the chill that raced over my bare skin.
“It’s not just about the torture. Do you know what happens to a faerie without a Court?” he demanded, remaining where he was.
“Do you know what happens when you piss off a Nightmare?” I snarled back.
Laurie ignored this. His voice penetrated the thin nightgown as I yanked it over my head. “Collith’s bond with them was broken when he died. He should’ve had the Tongue redo the spell the same morning he was resurrected, but he didn’t. Every day he spends down in that cell is a day he loses more of himself. You know how goblins are made, yes? He’s been punished enough, Fortuna. Not only did he surrender during the coup, when he could’ve obliterated every living thing in that room, but he didn’t run, either. He stayed and let them seize him. He’s trying to atone for his wrongs, and he’s killing himself in the process. Do you truly think Collith deserves to die?”
I stood in the middle of the room, staring at Laurie without really seeing him. I was thinking of Naevys now. Remembering the plea she’d made just before she died. Have faith in him.
No. I started toward the door. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I had to leave.
“He forgave you for those ninety years in Hell,” Laurie said into the darkness.
I faltered for a moment. A storm raged in my heart. Forgiveness? Collith? No, I thought again. I took a shuddering breath that I hoped the faerie in the bed wouldn’t hear, and then reached for the doorknob.
A gust of air stirred my hair. Laurie flattened his hands on either side of me, trapping me. I felt his bare thigh against my fist, making me realize he was still naked. “Okay, fine,” he purred in my ear. “You have a taste for bargains. What if we make it interesting?”
I faced him. Laurie leaned away slightly, giving me enough room to turn, but not much more than that. His chest pressed against mine as I raised my gaze. He probably expected a light response, to settle into our usual back-and-forth, but I glared at him through a sheen of tears. “He used me. He lied to me. He—”
“Did you forget who you’re talking to?” Laurie countered. “By now, you probably know the real story behind Collith’s scar. I was so in love with him that I couldn’t see straight. Then, the first and only time we fucked, I felt him take it. My power. He didn’t get all of it—only a little piece, really—but I felt just how you do now. I was so blinded by fury that I tried to cut his face open. When that didn’t make me feel better, I gave Sylvyre the spell that went on to kill Naevys.”
“And you still didn’t bother telling me the truth?” I shoved at him. “You knew all this time, Laurie! You had a thousand opportunities to prevent what happened to you from happening to someone else. Not only that, but I told you about the crossroads. I showed you how much it meant… how much I…”
Laurie’s eyes were like frozen metal. “I didn’t divulge Collith’s true ability because I saw an opportunity. A way to test my theory.”
