Dark Child (Wild Men 5)

I feel the waves of pleasure crashing through her, and suddenly I’m coming, too, release rolls over me like a truck, wrenching a cry from my throat, sending lights flashing behind my eyelids.

Oh… fuck.

The world dims at the corners, and the strength goes out of my arms, sending me crashing on top of her. Cursing under my breath, I struggle to roll off her before I smother her. My lids feel like they weigh a fucking ton, my limbs are made of lead.

I wrap my arms around her, bury my nose in her soft hair. It smells of something fruity and fresh, and her scent, her warm body cocoons me in safety and pleasure.

At least, I think as I sink into sleep, she isn’t running away from me. I’m not letting her. I hug her to my chest, and the dark swallows me whole.

Someone is calling my name, the voice sweet, a golden string of tiny bells. Calling me back. I claw at the crimson water of the lake I’ve been sinking into like a stone, claw for the surface. Light streaks through viscous liquid. A swan is reflected inside, made of silver.

Blood.

I can’t breathe, but the voice calls again, and I fight to reach it, wading through cut off limbs and dead bodies floating in the murky depths.

“Merc!”

The light splinters in my eyes, and I jerk and gasp for air, breaking out of the dark. “Jesus fuck!”

“Merc.” A face is bent over me, pretty even if fuzzy. “You okay? I was calling your name, but you wouldn’t wake up.”

So much blood, in the water, on the ground, and a body. Dead.

I blink, pass a hand over my eyes. Smile crookedly at her, but it’s more of a grimace. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Her face comes into focus, all big dark eyes, cream skin and soft lips. “I’m okay.”

My heart is racing a thousand miles an hour, a hammer beating against the inside of my ribcage. My mouth tastes like fear.

“That looked like a hell of nightmare.” She’s kneeling beside me on the bed, bent over me, dressed only in my T-shirt. The thin cotton stretches over her round tits, her dark nipples showing through, the hem barely covering her bare pussy.

After yet another nightmare from hell, you’d think my body would be slow to react, but I’m already diamond-hard and straining toward her. My dick wants inside of her, even if my brain is still not onboard, still caught up in the net of blood, death and decay.

“It wasn’t that bad,” I mutter.

“You sure?”

This was nothing, baby, I want to say. Nothing compared to the usual reel. I didn’t even see the bogeyman. He didn’t have the time to show up and scare me half to death, as in our usual nightly meeting in my dreams.

But her face looks a bit pale. Guess I did scare her.

“Sorry,” I whisper.

Her slender brows are drawn together. I reach out and smooth the crease between them with my thumb. Her mouth trembles a little, so I stroke her brow and then cup her cheek. I can see she wants to ask more questions, ask what I dreamed of, why I’m not telling her.

I don’t wanna talk about it. Talking about it makes it too fucking real.

“Hey, you wanna watch a movie?” I nod at my laptop. “I mean, JC has this huge TV in the living room, but that would mean having to move from here.”

She snickers. It makes me grin. “Yeah, I vote for not moving.”

Warmth radiates through my chest. Why should it matter that she wants to stay here, in bed, with me? “I got mostly sci-fi movies, some fantasy, a few thrillers. I could look for—”

“Sci-fi and fantasy sound good.”

My grin widens. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Her dark eyes light up and she sits back. “Love them. Love Avatar, the Alien and the Predator movies, but the classic oldies, too, like 2001: A Space Odyssey and the TV series like Star Trek and Galactica.”

“Oh man, yes. The oldies are my jam. I’ve got Metropolis on my laptop. Wanna watch?”