They softened, and I immediately knew who it was.
Then, it all went black.
My mouth felt like sandpaper. I rolled toward my nightstand, reaching for my usual water jug. My fingers found something unfamiliar instead—a cold glass beaded with moisture, ice cubes clinking softly as they melted.
That was… disturbing.
I drank out of my water jug instead, because I didn’t know; that glass could be poisoned or drugged.
I coughed and tried to spit out what I had just drank out of the jug, because I realized that could have been poisoned, too.
I could have died in a horror movie.
A cold draft brushed against my calves, sending goosebumps racing up my thighs. From somewhere in the darkness behind me came a soft, insect-like trill. I froze, unable to breathe.
What. The. Fuck. Is. That.
I’ve always loved a stalker romance—maybe even the fantasy of a love scene like that. Part of me might want to desire it. But when it crosses into real life, when it actually happens, I’m second-guessing.
My throat bobbed. “Heeey?” My voice shook, giving away how worried I really felt.
A feather-light touch grazed my leg. I shrieked, scrambling backward until I hit the headboard, and curled into myself, arms wrapped tight around my trembling body.
Something scuffled across the floor in the darkness. My heart leaped into my throat as every horror movie I've ever seen flashed through my mind. If this was the boogeyman coming for me, I'm out—that's where I drew the line.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” I squealed.
The movement ceased at the foot of my bed. Silence fell, heavy and sudden, before a crimson glow pierced the darkness. The eerie light pooled across the floor like liquid, then climbed upward, inch by inch, as if the room itself were filling with blood-red water.
Was it Hades coming out of the Underworld? Was the portal under my bed?!
I froze mid-breath as crimson eyes pierced the darkness from the foot of my bed, where long, curved claws gripped the wooden frame.
Thank all the creepy things, it was Atlas.
I wanted to sigh in relief, but I also had my own role that I had to play. Was this him slowly revealing himself?
“Am I dreaming?” I muttered.
The Mothman unfolded himself from the shadows, his crimson eyes, with long lashes fixed on mine as he cocked his head in silent acknowledgment.
Ahh, I see. This was supposed to be a dream sequence, to get my reaction. Gotcha, I can do this, play a game.
He’s so freaking adorable.
I unwrapped my legs and knelt onto the bed. “Are you a nightmare?”
He scoffed and shook his head, standing taller, higher, showing off his bare chest, no plaid shirt or jeans; it was all him in his Mothman glory. His bright eyes stood out, while the rest ofhim was a deep gray, but when those wings spread behind him, he looked even larger, more… supposedly terrifying.
He unfurled before me, magnificent and otherworldly. Last time, drunk and vulnerable, he'd been a huddle of limbs and wings against my sheets. He stood tall, displaying his true form. Four arms extended from his torso, four hands that could explore every inch of me at once.
And my panties just got a little damp.
He let out that familiar whine I'd heard so many times when he was in human form. His antennae twitched forward suddenly, probing the air between us like curious fingers.
Those looked like they could be fun.
Atlas leaned forward until he was crawling on the bed toward me. His wings were behind him, making him appear larger than he actually was.
