Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
Istare at the laptop screen, frowning as I scroll through a selection of black clothing on the site Ada recommended.
Clicking into the listing for a pair of dark jeans that fit the much smaller model like a glove, my frown deepens.
There’s no way they’d fit me, right? I check the sizing, but it’s not helpful because I’ve never measured the circumference of my waist or inseam.
In the dream realm, clothes manifested when I thought about what I needed.
Or they did until I ended up stuck with variations on the outfits from Ada’s nightmares.
“Am I too big?”
Ada looks up from where she’s petting Henry on the other end of the couch. “No, I like how big you are,” she says, cheeks growing pink.
The way she says it makes me think she meant how big my cock is. Something hot coils low in my stomach. “That’s good to know. But I meant will any of these sizes fit me?”
“Oh! Crap, maybe not. I didn’t think to check if they had big and tall clothing. I just, uh, went to a site where I thought there’d be clothes you’d look good in.” Her flush deepens. “I’ve always had a bit of a thing for the bad boy look.”
My lips quirk as I think about the outfit I wore nine times out of ten in her recent dreams. “Shocking.”
“You don’t have to wear that if you don’t like it!” she sputters. “I can find you something else if you have a specific style you’d like. What did you wear before?”
I take a moment to consider the question. When I was at my home in the dream realm, I never thought much about what I was wearing until my physical form got stuck in this nightmarish form.
“Honestly, I was nude a lot of the time,” I say with a shrug.
Ada’s eyes scan down my body, settling on my crotch for a second before popping back up to my face. “I mean, if that’s what you’re used to, I wouldn’t mind…” She clears her throat. “But, uh, probably best to get you clothes in case you get cold or need to leave the house.”
Her flustered reaction has my chest expanding with warmth. It’s nice to know that Ada enjoys this form now that I’m not tormenting her in her dreams. A little shocking, considering how bad I wanted to be anything other than this, but nice.
“I trust your judgement on the matter. And your taste in clothes.”
She smiles and nods, taking the laptop from me for a moment to navigate to a different website, and after examining their sizing, figures out what I should get.
When I go to check out, however, the cost makes me pause.
I’ve never had to worry about money before. I justified using Ada’s money before because it was to purchase things to make her happy, but taking it from her for myself when she’s already being so kind seems like a step too far.
“I don’t have any money,” I say.
Ada frowns, looking up from her phone where she’s been investigating potential virtual therapist options. “I didn’t think you did.”
“I can’t buy these clothes.”
Her frown deepens. I hate making her unhappy even for a moment. Is she upset that I don’t have anything of value to contribute to her life? That I won’t be able to pull my weight if I stay with her?
“I’ll get them for you, don’t worry,” Ada says, patting my arm.
It’s too generous. “I’ll find a way to repay you.”
She snorts, shaking her head at me. “Dude, you saved my life. You don’t owe me anything.”
“But…” I swallow hard, as the reality that I have nothing to offer Ada comes into sharp relief as I continue to stare at the total on the screen.
Before I can register what she’s doing, Ada grabs the laptop out of my hands and clicks the order button before I can stop her.
“There. Now you have all the essentials.”
“Ada.”
She sighs, setting the laptop down and turning to face me.
She tucks her legs under her and scoots a little closer.
“If we’re going to do this…be together like this…
we can’t worry about making sure every aspect of our relationship is even.
You’re a literal dream, Seth. It’s going to take time for you to adjust to being here permanently.
You let me worry about the money, and you can help around the house.
I…” She looks away for a moment, her voice growing more hesitant.
“It’ll just be nice to have company. To have someone here with me who cares about how I’m doing and who doesn’t judge me because I don’t go anywhere. ”
“I don’t care where I am as long as I’m with you,” I say, reaching out to place a hand on her thigh.
Her eyelashes flutter at the touch, her gaze vulnerable. “Don’t say that yet. You’ve only been here a day. I bet in a week or two you’ll be going stir crazy stuck here with boring old me.”
The way she says it so flippantly makes me wonder if other friends did that to her.
If her family did that. My chest aches at the thought of this beautiful, brilliant, terrified woman being abandoned because of her trauma.
What would’ve happened if she’d had people that stayed by her side even when she was at her darkest moment?
If someone had cared enough to come here and sit with her until she found the strength to go out into the world again?
“I meant what I said, Princess.” I stroke her knee with my thumb, hoping to soothe some of her worry. “You think after I’ve stuck with you all these years that I’m going to walk away right when I finally get to be with you for real?”
“I know, but…I’m not fun to be around sometimes,” she murmurs. “I’m worried the reality won’t be what you expected.”
I gently nudge Henry off of the couch so I can close the space between me and the lovely woman on the verge of tears. He gives a frustrated huff, but obeys, and I tug Ada closer until I can drape her legs across my lap and wrap an arm around her waist.
“It isn’t what I expected, Ada,” I say softly.
She stiffens, but I continue.
“You far surpass any hopes I could’ve ever had. Being with you…touching you like this…finding out that you want me here, too? That’s better than any dream in the universe.”
“God, why are you so nice to me?” she asks, tears spilling down her cheek as she gives me a watery smile.
I reach up and stroke her cheek then cup her chin. “Because you deserve happiness. So do I. And it just so happens that what makes me the happiest is giving you what you need.”
“You truly are a dream,” Ada says with a weak chuckle. “Unconditional care like that is reserved for pets and romance novels.”
I know from what Rhys has babbled at me about love and romance in the mortal realm that isn’t true. Anger coils inside my chest at the knowledge that even Ada’s family never made her feel loved unconditionally.
“Being your dream man is a nice change of pace from being your worst nightmare,” I tease, opting to be lighthearted instead of delving into her past pain. That’s something more suited for her future therapist, not a clueless creature like me.
She rolls her eyes at me, and I pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her lips. She sighs, the tension in her melting, and when our mouths part, she seems less worried.
“You know… I thought of something you could do to repay me for the clothes after all.”
I cock my head at her, taking in the flush on her cheeks and the way her breasts are rising and falling with her shallow breaths. She’s aroused, and as soon as I realize that, my cock stiffens.
“Oh really? Do you want my mouth on you again, Princess?”
Her eyes widen in surprise.
“Shit, sorry, I misread that,” I say, grimacing.
“No! It’s okay. I was thinking that you could help me go chop down a tree, but that would also be good.” She bites her lower lip. “Really good.”
My pulse pounds as arousal heightens my senses, and I want nothing more than to bury my face between her thighs and hear her cries of pleasure. Then bury myself inside her tight heat, stretching her until she can take me and filling her with everything I have to give.
The sudden desperation that I feel for her frightens me, too familiar to the violent cravings of her nightmares. I grit my teeth and shake away the fog of lust as best I can, attempting to even out my breathing.
“I can get you a tree. Should probably do that now since Christmas is almost here, right?”
I don’t understand the significance of the tree, but Rhys mentioned it to me multiple times, so it must be crucial to the holiday.
“Oh.” Ada blinks at me a few times, and nods. “Yeah. Right.” She chuckles and pulls her legs off my lap, running a hand through her hair in a nervous habit I’ve caught her doing before.
Of course she’s nervous. I doubt she forgets how I ravaged her before and is afraid for her poor sore pussy if I try to take her again.
She helps me bundle up as best she can with a sweater that’s oversized for her but more of a skintight crop top on me.
I grab the axe from where I’ve used it to chop firewood, and follow her lead into the forest, trying not to let the sight of her rounded, luscious ass remind me too much of the last thing we did together out here.
Of the way that perfect ass felt in my grip when I held her against a tree and she cried out over and over.
Too bad that tree wouldn’t fit in her house.
It takes her a while to find something that’s a suitable size, but Ada settles on a squat, slightly pathetic-looking tree with a bunch of missing branches on one side.
I don’t question it. She’s the expert on Christmas trees, not me. It takes me barely two swings of the axe before the tree tumbles over on its side into the snow, and I hand the axe to Ada so I can hoist it onto my shoulder.
She gapes at me a little as I do. “God, you’re so strong.”
I shrug, the tree rising and falling with my shoulder as I do. I want to offer to carry her too, just so I can have her supple body pressed against me again, but I resist the urge. I need to show her that I can be more than a monster who haunts her dreams and fucks her in the woods.
Though, gods, I want to feel her come around my cock again more than I need air.
Once she falls asleep tonight, I’ll have to take care of my wayward cock on my own. I’ll probably end up rubbing myself raw with the intensity of these urges.
Ada quirks a brow at me. “You okay? You’re staring at me awfully hard.”
“I’m fine,” I croak, tearing my gaze away as my pulse thunders in my ears. Clearing my throat, I do my best to give her a casual smile. “Let’s go back and get this decorated. I want to learn from an expert how it’s done.”