CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
R UBY
I’ve been gifted another lucid dream.
I’m somehow aware that I’m dreaming, and my mind gets to take charge of the fantasy, playing out the vivid detail like a movie I’m directing behind my eyelids.
I’ve never enjoyed this talent more than tonight. My dream body undulates against the mossy forest floor as the hazy figure of a shirtless, muscled Torrence hovers above me, his fingers rubbing my clit so expertly while he sucks at my neck. It takes me higher and higher, like a hawk spiraling over the trees.
Who holds the power, here? Is it my dream Torrence, as he pushes me closer and closer to the dive off the edge and the freefall, pleasure screaming across my body? Or is it me, commanding this fantasy man to do everything I like best?
I revel in the push and pull of power, as my dominance wars with his.
I’m no longer a hawk, but a Goddess, legs spread wide as I stand above him. In my dream, he’s on his knees in the leaves, gazing up at me with those flashing gold eyes. His face falls forward to the meeting of my thighs, and I am worshiped.
He isn’t my slave. He’s too strong for that, and my mind rejects it, dreaming or not.
But perhaps he could be my willing servant, grateful to be noticed, and obedient to everything I ask of him. The power of experiencing the dynamic in the dream world helps to awaken something sinuous and dark that has been coiled in the pit of my stomach, waiting for me to notice it. I think now that it’s always been with me, waiting for the right time. The right partner to learn with, to learn from.
What must it feel like, to hold such power over someone? To rule by desire?
The small and dark coiled thing spreads itself, stretching its sinews and unhinging its jaw, and I forget for a moment that I’m not pressing Torrence’s face to the apex of my thighs. My body writhes and my fingers curl as I imagine them sinking deep into his hair, holding him exactly where I want as he forges his need into the making of my pleasure.
It feels so real that I never want to wake up.
Something snags my attention, though, like an insistent child tugging my shirt hem. Something isn’t quite right, and my mind begins to search for the hidden clue. The trees and forest are hazy enough, susceptible to my whims. But Torrence... He’s different, somehow. He resists when I try to push him away.
Little by little, I surface from the dream, waking up slowly as a shriek rises to my lips.
Torrence is here , in my room. In my bed, mouth between my thighs. I’m no longer dreaming, and he’s here as though I conjured him.
He surges up from our dark heat beneath the sheets, his palm wrapping over my mouth, trapping the scream as I blink wide-eyed up at him in the darkness. My heart pounds, adrenaline racing through my blood.
How is he here, in my bed? How was he there, in my dream?
How did I not wake up before this?
But even as my mind rebels, my body lets him back in. He’s here, and I’m no longer resisting his strong fingers stroking my clit under the sheet, pushing in and out of me in a rhythm that matches the lost dream. Reality blurs around the edges as pleasure loosens my inhibitions.
His hand slides from my mouth, settling in a loose curve around the base of my neck.
“Where did you come from?” I murmur, trying to orient myself as he works my body closer to orgasm. “Thought you left.”
“Turns out I have a few things to take care of here first. And you were dreaming of me,” Torrence whispers into the night, slowly pushing my t-shirt above my breasts and dragging his eyes over my bare skin.
“You were... here? In my room?” I manage, torn between how much I’m enjoying this wake up surprise, and how much he’s crossed a boundary.
He came in uninvited. He watched me sleep. He touched me - climbed into my bed and touched me without fucking asking.
The betrayal that every woman knows is possible bubbles up in my chest. It doesn’t matter that I’m enjoying every second of his touch now - he should have fucking asked .
“Stop.” I bite the word out, and he raises his eyebrows, surprised.
“But you’re enjoying it.”
“That’s not the point.” I grit my teeth and wriggle a few inches away from him. My body protests, wanting his fingers right back where they were, but this is a boundary.
He crossed it, and that can’t go unnoticed.
Unpunished, actually.
The word slips into my mind like the crack of a whip, and my eyes narrow as a lethal grin curls my lips.
“You shouldn’t have done that without consent,” I hiss, already imagining ways to punish him. He needs to understand that I never gave consent for this. Dreaming about something doesn’t mean I want it.
Except I really, really want it. Maybe there’s a way to get a bit of both.
My movements growing rough, I shove him off of me, fingers lingering on his bare chest. I’m too small to move him, but he lets me, surprise keeping him compliant.
“Gobbelins take, Ruby,” he warns with a glint in his eye.
“Well, men ask first.”
“You want me to ask every time I touch you?” His voice is edged with impatience, but I’m not giving up this lesson.
“I want you to fucking ask if you’re going to touch me here,” I purr, my voice dropping to a gravelly, sensual tone I didn’t know I possessed. My movements grow snakelike and powerful as I dig one knee into his chest, pressing him down into the mattress. I kick the covers to the side and sluice my fingers between my thighs. Wetness drips from my skin, my center soaked from his tongue and my arousal.
I want more. I want more than the dream, and I want it on my terms.
“Please, Ruby. Will you choke me between your thighs and steal my breath with that perfect cunt?” His teasing words pull a powerful beat of longing from me, but I narrow my eyes at him as his hands begin to slide up my thighs.
“You’ve done bad things. You have to pay for that.”
Torrence widens his beautiful eyes, but he doesn’t resist when I grab his wrists and bang them back into my headboard, hard enough to bruise. The hint of a smile plays around the corners of his lips, and it makes me fiercer.
“Hold onto that, and don’t let go, or you’ll regret it,” I threaten, as his fingers wrap the wrought iron curls on my old-fashioned bed. I slip off my t-shirt and drag myself forward, smearing his skin with my scent as he groans. I don’t stop until my pussy is spread open directly above his face.
“No other moving, and keep this bad boy away from me,” I instruct, reaching back and giving his straining cock a healthy smack through his pants. He flinches, eyes widening even more, and a devious laugh spills from my throat.
Who would have ever guessed I’d like this so much?
An inch at a time, I lower myself over his mouth, a moan slipping from my lips as his tongue immediately delves deep inside me. He understands exactly what I want, and he’s playing the game, for now. I layer my hands over his on the bed frame, my tight nipples brushing the cool iron and my thighs tight on either side of his head. His knuckles go white beneath mine with the effort of holding on, and I grin to myself as I rub my wetness all over his face, smothering him in everything me.
It feels so deliciously dangerous, as though I’m walking the edge of degradation and dominance. He’s so much stronger. He could throw me off at any second. He could sink those fangs into my most sensitive parts and bleed me dry, or use his ice magic to freeze me while he takes everything he wants.
He doesn’t even try.
Just like in my dreams, Torrence obeys my silent command, devouring me whole in the most mind-bending way. My thighs tremble as he licks every fold and crease, wrapping his lips around my clit to suck, then pushing his tongue as deep as it can go, drowning in my essence all the while.
I own him, in this moment.
He lets me own him. He lets me have this power, but the edge of a growl rumbling in his chest reminds me that he’s the one controlling the power of pleasure, wrapped like magical fingers around my body as I struggle to last just a little bit longer.
When I come, I feel the release of wetness drench his face, and the growl rips from his throat as he laps it up with a hunger that would have embarrassed me, once. I don’t feel like that girl anymore.
I’m face sitting a lethal magical creature, and he’s all too willing to be my pet.
“Good boy,” I whisper, chuckling down at him as I raise my hips and he sucks in a deep breath. His lips glisten as he gives me a teasing half-grin, running his tongue over them to collect every drop. I reach down to collect a droplet from his jaw, and he sucks my finger into his mouth. His fangs graze my skin, and I yank my hand back reflexively.
“Had your fun, then?” he rasps, his eyes dilated nearly to black as he stares up at me. “I can play bottom. But can you?”
Before I have the chance to respond, his hands burst from underneath mine, grabbing my hips as he whips me over onto my back. He gathers my wrists together in one of his large hands, pulling them back to the metal railing. He uses the other hand to tease my swollen clit as I writhe beneath him, almost painfully sensitive. I’m so close to begging for him to stop or go harder, as long as he stops teasing, and he sees it.
“Do it. Beg,” he growls, but I button my lips closed. They pop back open as he opens the fly of his pants and takes his cock in hand, stroking that velvety tip. He presses his cock down, circling the head of it around my clit and groaning at the sight.
“I could paint you so pretty,” he says, teasing me so gently and mercilessly. I arch off the bed, my hands tugging hopelessly against his grip. He catches my hips and lines me up with his cock, pressing just the tip inside. “Or I could ruin this pussy, just the way I like it.”
His eyes flash fire and I suck in a shaky breath. I thought I had power over him? It was nothing more than an illusion - how easy it would be for him to slip inside and tear apart every bit of control I’ve just built.
“Tell me no. If you can,” he whispers, circling his hips lightly so his tip drags a tantalizing circle around my opening, my clit pulsing with the lack of attention. His eyes are amber lightning in the darkness of my bedroom, promising a storm is coming.
I see in his focused gaze that he would listen, if I told him no.
I close my lips, making my decision. “Put on a fucking condom, then,” I grit out, nodding to my nightstand.
He grins wide, and for the first time, I see every razor-sharp tooth in his mouth. He moves so fast, I barely see him obey me, and a micro-second later, he plunges his cock into me, so deep I see stars.
I cry out with the pain that quickly pulses into pleasure as my body adjusts to take him in, forgiving his roughness as he pins me to the mattress with the way his hips roll into me. I forget how to use words because all my brain power is dedicated to memorizing every single place we touch.
Harder and deeper he drives, an earthquake and a tornado spinning me in circles until I barely know my up from my down. My entire body tightens and curls in anticipation of the next release. It’s going to be the best one I’ve ever had. I’m so close to nirvana I can taste it.
And then he freaking stops, pulling out and laying the hot weight of his cock on my belly as his hand tightens around my wrists.
A whimper slips out of my mouth, and my hips buck, trying to find a way to bring him back inside.
“I said beg ,” Torrence growls, leaning down and biting down on one nipple so hard I squeak out his name, wondering if he’s drawn blood. He sucks the pain away, and this is no longer a moment of playing games with my pride. It’s one of desperation, and I want this orgasm more than I want to be in charge.
“Please, Torrence,” I manage.
“Please what?” He bites the other nipple, the pain like a streak of lightning down my stomach and straight to my core. He slips his cock back in my aching pussy, and I feel my inner muscles wrap him tightly.
“Please... please make me come,” I beg, staring up at him with unashamed need. He’s filling me up so full, but he won’t move a damn inch.
“I already did that. What else?”
I make a desperate noise, my eyes going wider. What else? What does he want? Then he gives the tiniest of thrusts, pinning every bit of my attention right back on the most important part of my body right now.
“Please... please fuck me? Hard” I can’t help but let my words sound like a question as embarrassment flushes my cheeks, but the fiery flash in his eyes tells me I chose well.
“That’ll do, kitten,” he rumbles, finally beginning to move again.
Torrence keeps my wrists pinned above my head and slides his other arm beneath my lower back, wrapping me to him as he lowers himself back onto my body, crushing the air from my chest with his solid muscle. But the friction. Oh, Goddess, the friction and the slick of his skin on my heat. My eyes roll back in my head as he begins to move again, every inch of his body rubbing something sensitive on mine.
“Yes, yes, oh, Goddess, yes,” I chant, in time to his powerful thrusts. My legs draw up to give him even deeper access, and a real, animal noise purrs from his throat as he ruts against me.
“Say it. Say it again,” he rasps, a constellation of frost spreading across my skin as he begins to tremble.
“Fuck me so hard,” I pant, my breath barely enough as he bears down on me. The words spill from my mouth like I’m used to saying them. “Torrence, yes. Harder .” My heels grind into his ass, and I feel his body tense around me as he finds his ledge and drags us both over it, my name wrenching from his lips once more as he hoists my hips a few inches, changing his angle just enough to hit me where it hurts so good.
My neck arches back, and I watch in wonder as perfect snowflakes begin to drift down from the ceiling. Their tiny pricks of ice dance across the heat of my skin as I come harder than any human man has ever made me come. I forget how to breathe, lose track of time, and decide I never want to come down from this high.
Torrence takes his liberty and draws the pleasure out and out and out , until my body is boneless and aching, and I’m nearly crying with raw sensitivity and spent pleasure. When he finally lets go of my sore wrists and raises up on his elbows to stare down at me, I’m limp and wrung out, every muscle inside and out exhausted.
“That’s a good girl,” he says, giving me a lazy smile laced with pride as he lowers his mouth to mine and offers a chaste kiss. His body presses down on mine again like an anchor, sinking me to the dark bottom of the ocean where my ruined senses can begin to recover in the cool stillness. And in that quiet, oddly tender moment, I know.
I’m never going to be the same girl again.
I’m never going to be able to let him go, no matter what he’s done or might do in the future. It’s a terrifying feeling - the very reason I hesitated to let him in - but now, I welcome it the same way I’ve always welcomed the return of magic, no matter how dark.
I let the certainty drift into my heart like the smoke of a bonfire, knowing it could choke me if it grows too strong, but loving the scent of it all the same.
I’m almost asleep when I hear Torrence whisper, “Run away with me, Ruby.”
I try to tell him I can’t, not without my Rosey, but my mind has already let go of the moment, falling deep into an exhausted, satisfied sleep.