Water encased my feet, slowly climbing up my ankles toward my knees. My breath came faster as it reached the hem of my nightgown, staining it red.
Blood. That’s what I was standing in. Not water.
The white of my nightgown vanished. A victim of the blood from below and the darkness above.
Childe, it is not time yet, a voice said moments before an unseen force picked me up and evicted me from the dream.
I came to consciousness with a jolt. A sharp pain in the side of my neck registered a split second before it was replaced by a piercing pleasure.
I buried my fingers in the hair at the back of Liam’s neck as a moan left me.
Once the avalanche of sensations had receded, I blinked dumbly up at the ceiling as I waited for my brain to reboot. “That’s one way to wake up.”
Liam’s lips curved against my skin. “Is that a complaint I detect?”
I circled his leg with mine. “Never. Just an observation.”
Liam swiped his tongue along his bite marks, the gentle movement tugging at my core. Before I could relax into the sensation, his mouth locked around the wound. He sucked hard.
A rough sound left my throat as climax burst through me.
Several seconds later, I came back to myself to find Liam with his chin propped on my breast bone, watching me.
“You’re feeling frisky today,” I said, sliding down my pillow to make myself more comfortable.
He lifted his chin, rising up onto his elbows until his face hovered a few inches over mine.
I ignored the desire that tried to ignite as it always did around him. Liam was an addiction I had no intention of resisting. I could see why some humans were willing to sell their souls for this kind of pleasure. Even an eternity spent in his arms would be too short.
I shifted under him into a more comfortable position, still a little drowsy. Now that I had time to think, I realized the fiery ball of awful was still high in the sky. There were hours yet until I was due to wake.
I covered my yawn, concentrating on his face. “Was I imagining it or did you arrive last night?”
I seemed to remember something to that effect right as I was drifting off.
Liam brushed a piece of hair from my face, his expression tender. “I did.”
I kicked the covers off my legs.
Liam’s gaze dipped down my body, an appreciative look on his face as he ran his hand down my side to my hip. “I’d hoped to be here to see your reaction to the house but was delayed by an unfortunate piece of business.”
“The attack?”
Liam’s ducked his chin in a nod.
“So, they’re back.”
“It would seem so,” Liam agreed.
A grumbling sound left me as I pressed my head harder into the pillow. Why couldn’t things ever be simple?
“How bad is this?” I asked.
Liam’s gaze turned inward, his mind occupied as he drew idle circles on my waist.
I fought to keep my hips still as his fingers moved toward my lower stomach, dipping under the edge of my sleep shorts before withdrawing. Warmth flooded my center as my nipples tightened. A tiny sound left me, making his lips curve before they flattened again.
The bastard knew exactly what response he was drawing from me.
