I’d hoped she might visit my dreams last night, that subconsciously she missed me enough to seek me out. Sadly, no matter how much I wanted it, she hadn’t appeared. Who would feed her now? Some random prick who was none the wiser?
The only silver lining was that I was pretty sure Merri wouldn’t break her No Sex With Humans rule.
Unless she gets so hungry her succubus forces the issue.
A shudder of pure revulsion rolled through me. I fucking hated the idea of Merri with anyone but us. It was wrong. Like pineapple on pizza wrong. But she had no choice in the matter after a certain point. Her hunger eventually would take over. That was where we differed.
Though I was going to have to feed eventually. And without her here, my options were bleak as hell.
I’d never invaded someone else’s dreams to get the sustenance my body required. Until Merri’s nocturnal visitsstarted, I hadn’t even known it was an option. I simply siphoned from the people around me. Bustling cities were always full of lust-addled creatures I could snack on without leaving a trace.
The apocalypse changed the rules of the game, though. Cities were no more. Any large groups of people would be in hiding, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure lust was the last thing on their minds. If push came to shove, I might have to test out the dream thing.
“Oh, fuck. Sinclair, you idiot.” I smacked my palm against my forehead. “You’re an incubus. You can dreamwalk with her. She doesn’t have to run the show all the time. And the ladies appreciate a man who takes initiative. She’s probably been waiting for me to shoot my shot, and I’m over here totally fumbling the ball.”
Closing my eyes, I burrowed deeper underneath the covers and took a few centering breaths. Then I waited.
And kept waiting.
Okay, how did she kick-start these things? Should I think of her? Think of her naked? Think of us naked?
All that did was make me hard.
Fuck.
Come to think of it, I probably should have asked her some technical questions about how the dreamwalks worked. I’d been more wrapped up in reaping the benefits than trying to recreate them myself, and now it was too late. She was gone, and the only other succubus I knew familiar with the practice was Lilith. And it wasn’t exactly like I could call her up for an assist.
Why didn’t anyone send me to incubus school? There was a lot to learn, and apparently no one taught me anything useful.
I adjusted my position in the bed a few more times and tried to calm my racing thoughts. Those couldn’t be very conducive to conjuring a line to my Merri. If she was out there—which she absolutely was—I’d find her. I didn’t have any other option.
Somewhere between my spiraling thoughts and my getting comfortable, my breaths evened out and my mind started to drift. Instead of falling into a dream, like I assumed I usually did, this time I just sort of floated in this hazy pink cotton candy type realm. It wasn’t clouds per se, but it wasn’tnotclouds. It was like a veil, maybe?
A flicker of lavender lightning flashed in the distance, calling my focus there. Someone was in the mist, I could feel it, feel them calling to me.
“Merri?” I whispered, following the pull of their consciousness.
Time and distance had no meaning here. I simply thought about going to the lavender flicker, and I was there.
Or I guess here.
In the middle of a . . . tea party?
An enormous stuffed octopus sat at the head of a long table, which was decorated with an array of cupcakes and cookies, jars of Skittles and gummy worms, and a tureen filled with what looked suspiciously like tomato soup. That was quite the combination. My stomach hurt just thinking about it. Before I stepped any closer, a small child’s voice floated through the air.
“Mister Wiggles, don’t ignore our new friend.”
As one, the half a dozen other stuffed creatures at the table turned and locked eyes with me. But not human or animal-like eyes. That would be acceptable. These were creepy glass and, in some cases, overly large button eyes. Then Mister Wiggles turned and reached out for me with one long tentacle.
I sucked in a horrified breath and noped myself the fuck out of there.
I don’t know what the hell that was, but that was no dream. That was a damn nightmare.
Shuddering as I blinked my eyes open, I took a moment to pull myself together. Kids had the most terrifying brains.
Shaking off the vestiges of my first attempt, I settled back into the bed and willed myself to the dream realm. I had proof of concept; now I just needed to perfect my technique. Maybe it wasn’t as simple as diving headfirst into any random cotton candy cloud. There had to be a way to sort them since Merri so easily lasered in on us. My focus drifted from one cloud to another, attention homing in on one that felt familiar.
Music hit my ears the moment I walked into the dream, and I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt I wasn’t with my girl. That didn't stop me from moving forward, though, because I knew this person. In another life, I’d been in a band with him. I hovered on the periphery, watching as my old bandmate relived his glory days. He had to be well in his eighties now, his fingers long past able to do the complicated riffs he was currently showing off. At least here, in his dreams, he could still hold on to his greatest passion.
