Chapter 24 #2
“You just ate three plates of that mosta—musca—whatever the hell Rose called it. Oh my god, Robbie, Robbie,” Nadja protested as he increased his speed.
“Nadja,” he said, “I’m hungry.”
He squeezed her ass with his hand. Hard, relishing her gasp behind him.
“Oh,” she said, her words a whisper in the darkness.
“Oh,” he repeated, sliding his palm down to cup the back of her thigh. “Are you hungry, Nadja?”
“I could eat,” she said, the last word breaking into another shriek as he sprinted then, the yellow light on the cabin’s porch growing closer and closer.
“You should eat.”
They barely made it into the cabin, ping-ponging off of walls and furniture as they kissed, pulling at clothing and stripping it away until nothing separated them, until Robbie pressed her against the closed bedroom door and thrust into her while she wrapped her legs around his waist. The door banged against its frame with every thrust. Nadja bit his lip hard enough that he tasted blood.
He kissed her harder, smearing red over her lips, her cheek, down her throat until he latched onto a spot on the side of her neck, a common spots for bonding bites, and sucked hard.
She detonated in his arms and he followed her over the edge, feeling his muscles, feeling the sinews and connective tissue, feeling the blood pulsing in his veins, feeling powerful and animal and alive in a way he never had before.
They showered together, squeezed into the tub shower, laughing at the tight fit. They were careful with one another, washing backs and trading soft kisses back and forth as they washed the day off of them.
Nadja’s hair was damp against his bare chest as they lay in bed, her body draped over him the way he’d imagined her doing at least a hundred times.
“How did you do it before?”
“Hmm?” Nadja said sleepily.
“How did you feed before?”
She looked up at him.
“Well, before technology, I dream-walked. I don’t…
like most people. I mean, I like them just fine, but that doesn’t mean I want to sleep with them.
And invading people’s dreams felt so… exploitative.
So I dream-walked with people who were already having those sorts of dreams and just inserted myself into them. ”
“That can’t have been very satisfying.”
“It wasn’t.” She sighed. “But it was enough. And then I got banished to earth.”
“Banished?” Robbie’s voice was louder than he’d meant it to be, alarmed.
“I didn’t hurt anyone. That’s the whole point, actually. I didn’t reap a soul that I could have, I didn’t harm a human that I could have. I mean, it would have been like kicking a baby bunny, and I don’t like hurting things.”
“So… you’re a terrible demon, is what you’re saying.”
She smiled. “The worst.”
“So what then?”
“Well, I was banished to a human body. But my punishment was that I still had the same needs. The High Commissioner knew what he was about when it came to punishment. I couldn’t dream-walk, so I had to…”
Around her body and over her shoulder, Robbie made a crude gesture with his hands, inserting his forefinger into the closed ring of the opposite thumb and forefinger. She slapped his chest.
“A fair amount of that. And then phone sex lines became a thing. And then talk roulette. And then, finally, Voyours. That’s been the best so far. It gives me the most control over the situation, and I can pick who I work with.”
“So how does it work?”
“What do you mean? Camming?”
“No. Feeding.”
“Well, whenever another person is aroused by me, I get energy from that exchange.”
“But only when they’re aroused by you? What about you? Where do you factor in?”
“I haven’t,” she said flatly. “Not often, anyway.”
Robbie’s heart sank to hear her say that.
“With JJ?”
She bit her lip. “Are you jealous?”
“No, I’m not. I promise. I’m just…”
“Curious,” she said with a sigh.
“Yeah.”
“JJ and I helped each other out at a time when we both needed it. He fed me, and I gave him a place to land for a while. We’ve only ever been friends. But he made sure I enjoyed it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good,” Robbie said, and he meant it. JJ had taken care of her when nobody else could.
“But it’s never been like it was today. With you,” she said hesitantly.
That sinking feeling was gone, replaced with a high so bright, so expansive, that he felt like his heart might burst out of his chest and fly around the room.
“It’s never been like it was today for me either,” he said quietly, kissing her forehead. She sighed again, nestling closer to him.
“You’re so brave, Doc.”
“You’re so brave, Robbie,” she replied.
They lay there in the quiet of the cabin, in the pitch dark of the bedroom, in the warmth of the bed, and the safety of one another’s arms. Nadja’s breathing slowed and deepened, and her body relaxed against his in sleep.
He kissed the top of her head gently, careful not to wake her.
“You won’t have to be brave like that ever again,” he whispered into the darkness before succumbing to his own sleep.
He dreamt of her. Not kissing her. Not fucking her. Simply holding her, just like he was in real life. And in the morning, he wondered if she’d really been there in his dreams, too.