“Traum, talk to me. What happened?”
“Lord Arafel took down the boundaries,” I said, turning so I could see her nodding her agreement, “And last night, she called me from my dreams into her world.”
“The living world?” Antheia’s voice was full of wonder.
My chin jerked twice, “And it was so different, nothing like the usual dreams. And when I reached for her, I could feel her. I touched her and,” I sighed, “She is everything. I can feel her heartbeat, the way her eyes look in the dark. Her scent, her voice, her presence, it is the thing I’ve always wanted. I just didn’t know it until I met her.”
Antheia sat down on the edge of my bed, staring at her hands in her lap. “That’s….”
I braced myself.
“That’s amazing Traum, I’m so happy for you.”
I sighed, smiling at my little sister. “Thank you, Theia.”
“What are you going to do first?”
“I have no idea. I –I need to make sure I can get back to her tonight. I’m not sure how to do that.”
Antheia smiled at me. “I know exactly who we have to ask.”
I started to open my mouth when she caught me off, “Not Albtraum. I meant grandmother. She must remember how it used to be, before the boundaries were closed.”
“That’s a good idea,” I commented, shoulders relaxing a little. From her seat on the edge of the bed, Anthetia wound her fingers through mine, squeezing hard.
“All my ideas are good, but this one is spectacular. After all, I am desperate for a new sister.”
I snorted and Antheia dropped her hand, standing up with a flourish and moving out the door. “Let’s go slowpoke, we have a mate to meet.”
“Antheia…”
My sister pivoted in the doorway, her hands gathering the rogue curls away from her face. “Oh, and I haven't even asked about the mate in question. What is their name? What are they like?”
I sighed, then followed my eager sibling back to the front of the house. “Her name is Bailey. And she is perfect.”
*** Bailey
I stared at the coffee maker, at the slow, dark brown fluid that leaked drop by drop into the carafe below. Fluorescent light bulbs glowed, the refrigerator hummed and all around me the sounds of my coworkers invaded my brain like tiny pinpricks into my flesh, each more cutting than the last.
My heartrate was a rolling thrum in my ears. How was it that the entire world simply carried on when my personal viewpoint had been completely rocked?
Demons.
Not just any demons, but sex demons. They were real. They had to be.
Two nights ago, I woke up to find a demon male in my living room. An enormous, horned demon with a beautiful face and fangs the size of a tigers. And he had smiled at me, told me about his family, about his own dreams, about his abilities, the spicy and less spicy ones… And yet the morning after we had talked all night, I had woken up feeling just as rested. In some kind of confused trance I had showered, dressed and driven my little gray sedan through the swirling silver storms and straight to my boring gray cubicle.
I had to be completely crazy. I was sure of it now. Some part of me wanted to be impressed that my subconscious brain had dreamed up something as beautiful and vibrant and not…me. He was a splash of red and passion in my world of survival.
Maybe that’s why I had dreamed him up.
I needed him. Something to focus on, to pant over. Because to be frank, I felt like I had lost complete control over my body since the night he had come into my life. Nothing like a passing sexy dream.
My reality was this, I was desperate for something. I had gonelooking for my vibrator twice yesterday and I had been proud of my ability to hold off. Because even after I came, slick and wet and wanting, I had pushed my fingers deep into myself, letting that subtle fire reignite all over again.
I was insatiable. I even woke up last night, sweating, my hand down the front of my sleep shorts as I called out a name.
His name.
